tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31733197378345117372024-03-18T20:30:03.635-07:00Mama Mike's MusesMama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-13911899255632062452014-03-23T10:08:00.001-07:002014-03-23T10:08:49.721-07:00Bart-O-Rama<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEick8_IqEsroLHhyJZ4QzMmIP7YYwvQMqOJpYHQii9G_ifg8W9sWrr4I34fn_i_NSAtj3MgfJ3Dw26fOHCXDTBbHDydnsGFhd_qQqZpU3m7jiS4jbcPw4XBo9RghOjpxOEQ5WSUc10VSof5/s1600/IMG_1471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEick8_IqEsroLHhyJZ4QzMmIP7YYwvQMqOJpYHQii9G_ifg8W9sWrr4I34fn_i_NSAtj3MgfJ3Dw26fOHCXDTBbHDydnsGFhd_qQqZpU3m7jiS4jbcPw4XBo9RghOjpxOEQ5WSUc10VSof5/s1600/IMG_1471.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bart and The Boy, who wore goggles to bed, a few years ago</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have been watching our cat Bart whither away over the last year or so, wondering how long it would take him to go. The past few days his habits had really changed. Instead of asking to go into the garage to eat, he was only drinking water. Instead of then "going" outside along the side yard to the backyard and back inside through the tiny doggie door, he just "went" on the carpet, even though he had a litter box at his disposal. Needless to say, he was a bag of bones.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fifteen years ago Bart and his sister Lisa, who we lost in January of this year, came to us as rescue kittens from our local shelter. They were twelve weeks old and two little fur balls of pure joy! From the moment we met him, Bart was a cuddler. He was a lap hopper. When we had company he made the rounds to everyone who would have him. We have a friend who is quadriplegic; the first time they came over, Bart jumped up on her lap like he'd been invited. Thankfully, she was delighted by the attention and pet him as best she could. Bart used to follow us around meowing, telling us he was ready for a lap and that we were now supposed to sit down to create one for him. His meow almost sounded like he was saying "m-lap?" He was often disappointed.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTUnfk6vZSYEtWNO-tLJ6TUKVhpNaOhyphenhyphen87U35MOw-MXIydmKy04NQEx67kINXp2boG5EFuajgiY2ThTUhrww6lv1FHYNBnqMwGTsHAeR9co9qdC5KSrcWpF6addmhCGZYtshhOK3NTgVE/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbTUnfk6vZSYEtWNO-tLJ6TUKVhpNaOhyphenhyphen87U35MOw-MXIydmKy04NQEx67kINXp2boG5EFuajgiY2ThTUhrww6lv1FHYNBnqMwGTsHAeR9co9qdC5KSrcWpF6addmhCGZYtshhOK3NTgVE/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bart and Lisa</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After getting himself up on, then stuck on, the roof, Bart earned the name Roofus (Roofus the Doofus). This happened more than once... Not a terribly bright animal, he was more of a lover than a sage (which I think is typically male, no matter the species). He could also be found near the heater vent, on the hearth in front of a roaring fire, and most often, in front of the fridge where it was always warm.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, occasionally, he couldn't be found for weeks! Bart had multiple families and everyone knew him by name. We'd be in the backyard and hear someone behind us and couple doors down greet him, "Hey, Bart!" For a while we had neighbors who fed him canned food, which he obviously preferred to the dry kibble at home, and got upwards of 17 lbs. The Captain starting calling him "Big Oaf." Like we did his sister's, we'll keep his collar and tag as a reminder of the love he brought to our home.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Captain couldn't sleep the night before last. It was his first night back home in more than a week and he was up until 01:00. Yesterday afternoon, March 21st, he picked up his 15 year old buddy and they took a nap on his easy chair. An hour or so after The Captain moved Bart back to his nest, Bart passed away, content in having had his master's lap all to himself one last time. We'll bury him next to Lisa and mark his grave in the same manner, with a concrete and bead stepping stone with this name.</span></div>
Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-78586923877812953782014-01-06T18:45:00.000-08:002014-01-06T18:45:51.256-08:00LisaMy little Lisa monster passed away last night.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkELs9vrZEywB7hC-RxLrSuurtDX2a56Xe7ddwMkVpOstqj4cFltIQ4O2OyQ4sDK2z-TsFmCKw2-_2pCfYJJnuYPeLi3FaDl1dFNQiJgQTlSlF-Rnj-77aA0qiwzDqEdOmi_pc8vMJ4Ja/s1600/IMG_3446.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixkELs9vrZEywB7hC-RxLrSuurtDX2a56Xe7ddwMkVpOstqj4cFltIQ4O2OyQ4sDK2z-TsFmCKw2-_2pCfYJJnuYPeLi3FaDl1dFNQiJgQTlSlF-Rnj-77aA0qiwzDqEdOmi_pc8vMJ4Ja/s1600/IMG_3446.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
My Lisa kitty and her litter mate, Bart, came to live with The Captain and me when they were but twelve weeks old, just one month after our wedding, fifteen years ago. Lisa was always tiny compared to her male sibling; for a long time, only half his weight: her 9 lbs to his 17 lbs. She may have been small, but she was mighty.</div>
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Lisa was a hunter. In our first home, a 1942 bungalow in downtown Napa, she was forever bringing mice and birds to the back door. Before we tore down the shed-of-horrors in that backyard, Lisa caught the resident rat. We knew it was there, could hear it scurrying around, and occasionally got a glimpse of its beady eyes in the rafters, but we never saw it... until one day The Captain and I arrived home from a trip to the garden center. There on the back lawn were Lisa and Bart, who, like his male lion counterparts, took credit for the kill but we knew who was really responsible. After all, Bart had never brought us anything before and The Captain lived in Kenya too long not to figure that one out immediately. The cats were taking turns tossing the nearly-long-as-Lisa, now-dead rat up in the air, only to watch it spin and fall on the green grass so they could pounce on it yet again. </div>
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When she was a young cat, along with dead creatures, Lisa brought me camellias from our garden. As the big blossoms fell from the bushes, she'd pick them up in her bitty little mouth and drop them at the sliding door. It happened too often to be a fluke. </div>
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Lisa always slept with The Boy. Every night when she could see it was time for him to go to bed, she'd insist on going outside (LET-MEOW-T!), presumably to use the litter box, grab a last nibble of kibble, and drink of water. Soon enough she'd be howling to be let back in. However, if the The Captain opened the door, she'd take off, as if he was chasing her. So Mama had to let her back in, follow her down the hall, and open The Boy's door. Then, like clockwork, Lisa would jump up on the bed, curl up next his pillow, and sleep all night. This nightly ritual went on for many years, even when The Boy was away at camp or staying all night with a friend's.<br />
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All cats have rough tongues, like 100 grit sand paper. Lisa's was more like 40 grit. OUCH! ...and she couldn't control her licker. If you set still long enough, she'd groom <i>you</i>: hands, arms, cheeks, jeans, mouth, if you let her (ew!!), and nose. The Captain used to say Lisa wanted to make-out with me, laying on my chest and alternately licking and biting my nose, until it was too sore to take any more abuse.<br />
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Unlike her brother Bart, Lisa was not a people-person (so to speak). She liked her own people, The Boy and me (mostly me), on her own terms, as cats do. She only tolerated everyone else, namely The Captain and my dad, and allowed them to pet her when it suited. When we had parties, she'd disappear until the last guest drove away. In June, 2012 we went to Disney World for two weeks, leaving the cats to their own devices, with our friends and neighbors looking after them. Bart remained at his other family (whoever they are) for a couple more weeks after we got home, but not Lisa. She followed me around like a dog for months, terrified I'd abandon her again. Eventually, her short-term memory kicked in and I was allowed to be more than five feet from Her Royal Highness.<br />
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I wish I knew what happened to her, what her final coherent moments were like. Was she scared? Hurt? In shock? Did she eat something she shouldn't have? Was someone abusing her? We think she may have been hit by a car. She just came home, went to sleep, cried out periodically, and went to kitty heaven on Sunday, January 5, 2014 at 11: 36 PM with her Mama at her side.<br />
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I'll miss Lisa's bunny-soft fur and demanding personality, her companionship and sometimes fickle loyalty. But mostly I'll miss how fiercely she loved us.Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-3125164114582168782012-12-07T14:01:00.000-08:002012-12-07T14:09:34.707-08:00All Decorated Up for Christmas<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gNzGWQ7FPQgvJGas0FlXM8Pk9wLAybwGGkaY2HDoKI6ssXXBC3HGv_3QL5_u4G5WNJ8opDoa70mtYUShm-VEmmx8upA8E6YGFDmn9XHwam_rexGmpdZQnXWNAX_1WTQT1Ig4zOCI1Pn0/s1600/P1010008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gNzGWQ7FPQgvJGas0FlXM8Pk9wLAybwGGkaY2HDoKI6ssXXBC3HGv_3QL5_u4G5WNJ8opDoa70mtYUShm-VEmmx8upA8E6YGFDmn9XHwam_rexGmpdZQnXWNAX_1WTQT1Ig4zOCI1Pn0/s640/P1010008.JPG" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Captain built the train table and box that acts as <br />
both train tunnel and tree stand</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">The Captain and I have been celebrating Christmas
together for seventeen years – well, okay, sixteen; the first year he was still
living overseas but we were definitely dating. Over those years, we’ve
vacationed in many places and usually pick up a small trinket that can be used
as an ornament on the tree. It has also become a tradition to purchase an
ornament of a set that comes out annually. I’m the crafty type and have made
fifty-some ornaments we call Christmas Balls (see photo). There are few
surfaces in our house that I haven’t covered with Christmas collections, lighted
greenery, ribbon, and candles.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">With all this collecting and creating, you can
imagine how many boxes of Christmas stuff that gets stored the eleven months
between holidays. For the first five or so years, The Captain just didn’t
understand this concept. He didn’t grow up in a family where keeping things was
important. You move, you start fresh. Not me. There are ornaments on my
parents’ tree that belonged to my dad's parents, which he thinks were his grandparents. We keep things.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVVOENhrq00j2soezDMaSzpRmXGqpbOa8xlZQqmCKfToxDsjtJVt-XF8eq-MUuWrw8jTfMHDS5DY1WLqK5K1SukTkJRmgsFCnTpAkzeFJbQiMWtSb4uNX4TVsGfmwtLXbLtveBoUr7ZAi/s1600/P1010015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVVOENhrq00j2soezDMaSzpRmXGqpbOa8xlZQqmCKfToxDsjtJVt-XF8eq-MUuWrw8jTfMHDS5DY1WLqK5K1SukTkJRmgsFCnTpAkzeFJbQiMWtSb4uNX4TVsGfmwtLXbLtveBoUr7ZAi/s640/P1010015.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first Nativity given by my God Mother and made by her aunt </td></tr>
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</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">The Boy has my “keeping” bug and always wants to be
part of the tree decorating. In fact, he seems to think he is entitled to place
the first ornament on not only our tree but my parents’ tree as well. In the
past couple of years, it has become more important to him that he has some say
in some of the decorating plans. I’ve had a bit of a hard time giving that up.
It has taken years to get things just the way I like them. I even go so far as
to take photos of each vignette so I can duplicate it the following year. So
The Boy, being a boy, is growing up to be a typical man; therefore, not
particularly creative in the ways he gives advice. For example, this year while
I was placing the greenery on the desk, he walked over and handed me a plastic
icicle garland. This little gem was purchased at school last year in what
amounts to his teacher’s Good Will pile. She called it “Store” and the kids
could purchase items with the pretend money they earned in class. I rather
thought the icicle garland would look nice draped on his desk in his bedroom.
He had other ideas. Some things aren’t worth arguing over.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-uNminTFcFZjOyWNbhEo44tWWYAVIDsoFbRehNZTI-33ahyphenhyphen1dpEuxqcWH5SE7qkJ2QFh3VnBB9JHzFYbzZ9uVQyPSRxviP6K8tI38Ud1rqfuZD7il-3hr8nOpXIBYS-DO33GuDFvmP20/s1600/P1010013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-uNminTFcFZjOyWNbhEo44tWWYAVIDsoFbRehNZTI-33ahyphenhyphen1dpEuxqcWH5SE7qkJ2QFh3VnBB9JHzFYbzZ9uVQyPSRxviP6K8tI38Ud1rqfuZD7il-3hr8nOpXIBYS-DO33GuDFvmP20/s640/P1010013.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the icicle garland draped over the greenery? Yeah, me either... :)</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8x5rB7pxYGuvyfOkRI5jugOP8fNOyJzcvhIF2iMbWsc3t2flyMLVOAyO8ncaJqjpeX_MvHLZhIOS1WQ8gPDPvyGG8UMEMPukV7pOE63iF1p0ROGaI3cuIjGAXVhRBSUZuoq3rPRxDJcl/s1600/P1010010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8x5rB7pxYGuvyfOkRI5jugOP8fNOyJzcvhIF2iMbWsc3t2flyMLVOAyO8ncaJqjpeX_MvHLZhIOS1WQ8gPDPvyGG8UMEMPukV7pOE63iF1p0ROGaI3cuIjGAXVhRBSUZuoq3rPRxDJcl/s640/P1010010.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nativity given to me piece by piece over several years by my parents and a dear friend</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyT3obFRotWHjwEP4ulzJrARljDQYhJB6TmPOlZtjIQ3iNt5GtRnMjjIaNLqRPpSKdg4HK5-QiGZEkDsVclt4BcAubCaxthGwWXAXsF7TYxq1wdLJqvOBrg280QdzrW9wrI6kfEj7ykBI/s1600/P1010016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJyT3obFRotWHjwEP4ulzJrARljDQYhJB6TmPOlZtjIQ3iNt5GtRnMjjIaNLqRPpSKdg4HK5-QiGZEkDsVclt4BcAubCaxthGwWXAXsF7TYxq1wdLJqvOBrg280QdzrW9wrI6kfEj7ykBI/s400/P1010016.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Futura;">The greatest gift my husband has ever given me
arrived just last week in the form of a compliment. We had just finished two full days of putting up outdoor lights, decorating the tree, the mantle, the
entertainment center, the curio, the desk, the chest, the dining room, and the
hall bathroom. He collapsed into his chair and said, “Honey, the house looks
beautiful. I would never be able to do this without you.” Actually, he could
because of those aforementioned photos but I’m glad I was already sitting down
because this took me completely by surprise. Not that I never receive
compliments but The Captain is just not the demonstrative type. My point is
that I guess living with me all these years, he has come to appreciate the collections enough to look past the space they take up in the garage and attic.
Either that or he realizes that it’s better to enjoy it and not complain because
the only way those things are going anywhere means that I am going with them. Happy wife, happy life! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPdKdZtHOK155PsLdfwzkDljbQKG4dbz9ALANQMAyYa6GbBGJdDCw664ZA2abG9CAbrmTmB1vxORzgCGSCs6SXRJjbRBqBWk7YuypICfJApU-wAIE5loj2gFaH0LkY0issEsW5V58ouzA/s1600/P1010017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkPdKdZtHOK155PsLdfwzkDljbQKG4dbz9ALANQMAyYa6GbBGJdDCw664ZA2abG9CAbrmTmB1vxORzgCGSCs6SXRJjbRBqBWk7YuypICfJApU-wAIE5loj2gFaH0LkY0issEsW5V58ouzA/s320/P1010017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">HO HO HO!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-71042247080970018592012-12-04T00:25:00.002-08:002012-12-04T00:25:55.491-08:00Stuffing the Bird... or NOT!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Thanksgiving is my <i><b><u>favorite</u></b></i> holiday: all the family
time and wonderful treats, no tacky Halloween décor and the feeling you have to
dress up to be someone you’re not, and NO GIFT PURCHASING PRESSURE. Hm hm.
Okay, I’ve regained my composure (such as it is). In October, I promised you my
cornbread stuffing recipe. Time to deliver -- but no photos unless you want to frozen version. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Have I mentioned we have a super cute little puppy??? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">hm hm (sorry, she whispers)...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhre6NNiexG06Wul9JEzG1F8artE6R3UcKSfZyEU_czwpW6SVi_Z0Y5wtVvvQvPZKXfMCQ-N-Gn0bzXn5gUUeBFoyixEjIDThWVH4hEiyjwkm8ngQSBXpfidS2BQG2O9uByKRInPsuZCjEr/s1600/P1010012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhre6NNiexG06Wul9JEzG1F8artE6R3UcKSfZyEU_czwpW6SVi_Z0Y5wtVvvQvPZKXfMCQ-N-Gn0bzXn5gUUeBFoyixEjIDThWVH4hEiyjwkm8ngQSBXpfidS2BQG2O9uByKRInPsuZCjEr/s320/P1010012.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">But first, as always, a little background. Until I was in my early twenties, my
great-grandparents hosted Thanksgiving dinner at their house – for the entire
family. My great-grandmother (Grandma to us, Dixie to her siblings and
friends), made cornbread <i>dressing</i>, as she called it; cornbread <i>stuffing</i> as I
call it – the BEST cornbread stuffing EVER! …well, minus Grandma Dixie's canned black olives… </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">My mom actually taught me the recipe. The
first time I remember helping her make stuffing, I was fifteen and we were living
in the Philippines on Subic Bay Naval Base; it was 1984. We were in the kitchen
of our townhouse on Mahogany Drive; past the golf course, through some jungle, over the little
bridge, and deeper into the jungle cut out to make the tiny
subdivision that encompassed our home. It was the second Thanksgiving we had
spent away from family and the first time my mom made the entire meal without
her family’s help. The ingredients were purchased from the base commissary and
the celery was, well, not exactly fresh, as it had been shipped from Australia.
(We were used to it after a year and a half.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I’ve made only a few basic changes: one due to
current lifestyle changes, one due to basic knowledge we didn’t yet have, and
one due to available ingredients. Why mess with (near) perfection? But…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">The
original version included:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Lifestyle:<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>high-sodium, canned chicken broth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Knowledge:<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>raw onions and celery<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Available Ingredients:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bagged croutons and traditional
poultry seasoning<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">The newer
version includes:<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Lifestyle:<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>low-sodium chicken stock and unsalted butter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Knowledge:<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>caramelized onions and celery<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Available Ingredients: <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sourdough bread and natural herbs & spices<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The original is delicious. Feel free to substitute
the original ingredients if that’s what’s available, to your taste, and/or due
to time constraints. It’s only once (or twice) a year, after all. Add other
veggies, nuts, <b>olives</b>, spices, fruit, sausage, or even (gasp) oysters or shrimp.
Have fun with it! Make it your own.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">By the way, remember my October 2, 2012 post "A Tiny Little Comfort Food" ??? Yeah, well, this is where those pre-cut bread cubes will come in handy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DON’T</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;">
feel obligated to “stuff” the turkey. This prior knowledge came in especially
handy last year when we decided to BBQ the turkey outdoors (in the rain) to
leave room in our single oven for side dishes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DO</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;"> buy the
sourdough and bake the cornbread a day or two prior to making the stuffing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DO</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;"> make
the stuffing and get it into a casserole dish(es) then in the fridge the day
prior to baking<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DO</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;">
understand that this recipe makes enough cornbread stuffing for an army<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DO</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;"> have
an oversized vessel for mixing ingredients<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DO</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;"> use
your God-given best tools to mix – your HANDS<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DO</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;"> use
your crockpot. The crock can be used in the oven earlier in the day then placed
in the pot with the lid on to keep stuffing warm and moist until ready to
serve. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">(Add a bit more stock or butter if it gets dry)</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">DON’T</span></b><span style="font-family: Futura;"> be
afraid if the mixture feels wet, it will dry out in the oven. Besides,
it’s savory bread pudding; you want it moist<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">v<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Futura;"><b>DO</b> have
aluminum casserole dishes on hand (available at Costco) for the portion to go
in the freezer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Micol, Loreen, and Dixie's Cornbread Stuffing<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 double recipe cornbread (recipe on Alber’s white
cornmeal; <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">omit sugar</i></b>)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 full-sized loaf good quality sourdough bread,
cubed to ½ inch dice <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3173319737834511737#editor/target=post;postID=4502920315488904524" target="_blank">(10/2/12 post)</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 - 32 oz containers low-sodium turkey or chicken
stock<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 sticks unsalted butter, melted<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 boxes All Natural Bell’s Seasoning (found at Whole Foods or
online)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 bunch celery, chopped including leaves<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 large white or yellow onions, chopped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">4 Tbsp olive oil, divided<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">salt and pepper to taste<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Make cornbread using recipe on box (do NOT use sweet cornbread) and buy sourdough on Monday of
Thanksgiving week so it dries out. Cut sourdough into ½ inch dice at your
convenience. (Just a side note, I wait to make the cornbread until Tuesday so I
don’t eat too much of it…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">THE EVENING BEFORE THANKSGIVING…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">In an oversized bowl or other vessel, break the
cornbread up by hand into 1 to 2 inch pieces. (The following mixing will break
it up further.) Add the sourdough cubes, all but 1 cup of the stock, melted butter,
and seasoning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">In a large skillet, add onions to 2 Tbsp olive oil
over a medium-high flame, stirring frequently. When they start to turn dark
around the edges, add to the bread mixture. Place the remaining 2 Tbsp olive
oil in the skillet. Add celery including leaves, stirring frequently until just
softened. Add to the bread mixture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Using a wooden spoon or wire whisk, deglaze the
skillet with the remaining 1 cup of stock then add liquid to the bread mixture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Using your hands or a large spoon, mix ingredients
together. Add salt and pepper to taste. (Everything is already cooked so don't worry about tasting as you go.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Separate into several 9"x13" casserole dishes. Cover and
place in fridge what you need for tomorrow and freeze the rest for later. (I love to use it
instead of pie dough on chicken pot pie. It’s also perfect to throw in the oven
as a side for last-minute company.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Thanksgiving Day bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 45 minutes.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Merry Christmas and God’s blessings to your
family!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-77179734244724821432012-11-08T11:26:00.000-08:002012-11-08T11:26:01.346-08:00Direct Correlation Between the Chaos in My Head and in My House<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyW6oRwBFEvpI8f201NskMxvrW7yDDS-s4KBM7lqPAJQbovDb1R6lg7kT8LFV4x3xi-mQLwykagTL3BrAy1qw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">If you’ve been reading my recent posts, you know we
adopted a pound puppy. Things have been a little chaotic around here. I’ve
never had a puppy. I’ve had loads of kittens in my life. Absolutely no different,
really, except that in some regard dogs are smarter than cats. Sort of. It’s
been fourteen years since we had kittens in the house and ten years since we
had a human baby. I’m seriously out of practice with younglings. And there’s
laundry in need of folding on my sofa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Not only is there a wee dog around, The Captain and
I participated in The Boy’s school’s annual Chili and Pie Cook Off last Friday
night. The Captain started making his chili two days in advance by smoking
short ribs so he could then boil them for the stock. I had to get him out of
the kitchen in enough time to bake my Dutch Apple pie. In the meantime, the
kitchen floor was so nasty I couldn’t move forward without cleaning it.
Neighborhood kiddos were in and out – and loud! And there’s more laundry in
need of folding on my sofa. (The Captain took second place! My pie didn't place... :( )<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Saturday, The Boy and The Captain went on a bike
ride to Yountville and back. My mom and I drove to Walnut Creek to get my
computer back from the Apple Store. I dislike driving that far. I do it often
but it stresses me out, especially when parking is difficult. We set out for
this seemingly simple task unaware of Nordstrom’s annual women sale, Macy’s
one-day sale, and some other type of event tent was set up not two
blocks away. There wasn’t a parking place to be had, not even the valet parking
was available. We finally found a strip mall with a coffee house where we
parked and bought coffee to legitimize our space. I schlepped the bulky,
awkward iMac box to the Apple Store, checked out, left my mother with the
computer, and trekked back to the car. Upon arriving at the Apple Store’s
convenient loading zone, I was dismayed to find both spaces taken but my mother
flagged me down so I double-parked and the Apple Store staffer put the computer
in my car. Poor mom was in a bad way because one of the spaces was being used
as a parking space instead of a loading zone and she’d had an altercation with
the driver regarding my arrival, etc. Thank God there was no traffic on the way
home. And there’s a growing pile of laundry in need of folding on my sofa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Sunday, The Captain went on one of his four hour
bike rides to Glen Ellen over Mount Veeder. His long rides scare me because I'm not at all confident on a bike and we hear of far too many accidents. Looking back, I can’t remember what
I was up to but I know I was busy the entire time he was gone. As soon as he
returned, we started prepping for Rocket Day for Cub Scouts. The event was
really fun. I love watching the kids launching the rockets. I like to do it too
but somehow I’m low on the totem pole. The weather could not have been better.
But I came home to all that laundry in need of folding on my sofa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Monday was another pie baking day. I tried a new
Pumpkin Pie recipe from Cook’s Illustrated. While not terribly complicated, it
was far more involved than any other pumpkin pie I’ve made in my life. Lots of
hurry up and wait time involved. Three pies took five hours to make and get out of the oven. I am
reluctant to use a new recipe in case they don’t turn out
well, which turned out NOT to be the case (oh, so good) but I didn’t know that.
Could I have spent that down time folding the now foothill size mound of
laundry? Yes. However, have I mentioned we just adopted a puppy? He needed
someone to play with. Then there’s the dishes that kept piling up due to The
Captain vying for stove space making his chicken soup to take to work this
week. In the late afternoon, The Boy and I took off for his jui jitsu class so
I had a bit of reading time but no productive time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">That evening I took my three pumpkin pies to a PEO
meeting. It was unusual that the hostess was asked to serve several of our
members dinner as well; therefore, there were dishes to be done. As co-hostess,
and that the hostess is a still spry but ninety year old dear heart, I couldn’t
help myself but to apron up and do the washing up before the meeting. Then there
were the dishes after dessert was served. Mom stayed to help with those. And
still I came home to all that laundry in need of folding on my sofa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS 明朝"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Today is Tuesday. I’ve been busy… Busy repairing my cracked, dishpan hands and ignoring
the laundry – that is getting folded tomorrow. Ugh. I decided to add a video (such as it is) of The Boy meeting Barklay for the first time instead of the laundry (which you can see a bit). I don't wanna look at it so why would you? :) (It's folded, by the way.)</span><!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-85039266563645579832012-10-28T21:51:00.001-07:002012-10-28T21:51:56.033-07:00So Much Fun!!!
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">The Boy arrived home from Outdoor Ed on Friday
afternoon. I’d had our new puppy, Barklay, home for just twenty-four hours.
When The Boy first met Barklay, he thought we must be dog sitting (because we
do that so often… NOT). When I told The Boy that Barklay was ours, his face lit
up. I have now witnessed love at first sight.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Not sure how we happened upon such a wonderful, easy-going
dog. At only three months of age, Barklay already loves to play fetch. He’s not
a messy eater or drinker. Although he doesn’t love his crate, he goes in
without a fuss. He sleeps all night long. Of course, we’re having potty
training issues; I expected that but we’re only working on seventy-two hours
with this wee boy. It will happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">What’s amazing is that The Captain has yet to meet
our newest cRitter -- and it’s killing him. He keeps texting me requesting more
photos. I’ve sent him so many pics, and videos too, of us playing fetch and
cuddling. The Captain found Barklay in the first place and is our resident dog
whisperer. He tried to come home twice but didn’t make it. Those pesky ships
keep coming into the bay needing assistance. He’ll just have to race home on
Tuesday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I’m so glad to have a doggie in our house again.
We’ve missed our Maggie so much. However, our geriatric felines are not so
thrilled. Both Bart and Lisa have taken pot shots at Barklay. In fact, Bart has
abandoned us for his other family altogether (again). He stayed home and slept
with me, like usual, the first night but not since. I haven’t even seen him. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> Of course, the weather has been really nice lately.
We’ll see what happens when it gets colder. Lisa, on the other hand sticks
around the house, coming inside occasionally for short periods but I have to
watch both dog, who wants to play, and cat, who wants to kill. Lisa continues
to come home each night in time to crawl in bed with The Boy as she’s done for
years. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">I’m so happy to have a full set of domesticated
livestock again. We can’t wait for all those firsts: first swim, first camping
trip, first time at the beach. Many good times ahead! And, eventually,
hopefully, peace. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-39261494635756733512012-10-26T23:49:00.003-07:002012-10-26T23:49:45.372-07:00The Sweetest Little Pup in the World
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsH2uYA3Xj6Jhqbfs9U9zyzc8TLZG-EpEeP62cKAP0kkyZ5trYWLmSDj7u1mf1zUMeIl5k0GRtKJ5hZY-iWRrXfGfuIzUA2OUcQDAWioAQ3DA1FvRCjgPmd34_86y2mTmIAvsW7hXgTjL/s1600/Photo+on+2012-10-26+at+23.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDsH2uYA3Xj6Jhqbfs9U9zyzc8TLZG-EpEeP62cKAP0kkyZ5trYWLmSDj7u1mf1zUMeIl5k0GRtKJ5hZY-iWRrXfGfuIzUA2OUcQDAWioAQ3DA1FvRCjgPmd34_86y2mTmIAvsW7hXgTjL/s640/Photo+on+2012-10-26+at+23.06.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One sacked out little guy</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">We’ve been looking for the right dog for a couple of
years. We’ve considered purchasing from a breeder but we can’t justify
their prices for a dog. We’ve applied at several rescue sites to no avail.
Finally, we resorted to checking our local shelter’s site regularly only to
find the only dogs available were either Chihuahuas or Pit Bulls. One is too
yappy, the other, too scary. No thanks. We’ll keep looking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Until Tuesday night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Boy left for Outdoor Ed with his fifth grade
class on Monday. The Captain left for work on Tuesday and texted me that night
asking me to look at our local animal shelter’s website for a specific
little puppy. I fell in love at first picture. Wednesday I arrived at the
shelter at opening time and held this precious baby – only to find out that
someone else had already put in an application for him but would I like to put
in a back up application, just in case? After a moment’s hesitation, YES!!!
Yes, I would. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I asked the staff when we would know if he was ours.
Twenty-four hours. They had just heard from Applicant #1’s landlord (after
three days) that they were okayed for a pet and had left the applicant a
message giving them twenty-four hours to retrieve their puppy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Needless to say, I was at the shelter Thursday, twenty-four
hours later. I waited twenty-three minutes (but who’s counting?) to get help, as
I was the third person in line. I was soooo nervous that one of them was there
for this puppy. Nope. The first guy I’d already ruled out since I knew him and
we talked before the doors opened but I wasn’t sure about the other couple.
Nope, again. They were waiting to find out whether their kitty had been found.
WHEW!!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">To make sure she did her due diligence, the staffer
called Applicant #1 once more since they hadn’t heard from them. She ended up
leaving a message saying that they had waited not just the standard one day,
but four days from the time of application and the dog was now going to another
applicant. About fifteen minutes later, while I was still in the middle of the
adoption process, Applicant #1 called and read the staffer the riot act. I was
so pleased when I heard the staffer say, “I’m sorry, ma’am, but the dog is
already gone.” All Applicant #1 would have had to do was call and leave a
message saying they couldn’t be there at noon because they had to work but they’d
be in at whatever time. They hadn’t. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">In the meantime, The Captain was texting me every
three minutes to see what was happening. No pressure. But…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">He’s ours! Ours!! ALL OURS!!! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, people.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Welcome to the family, Barklay!</span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-85970402970452312342012-10-16T12:05:00.004-07:002012-10-17T21:08:21.749-07:00Orzo and Roasted Vegetable Salad<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">First, I'll apologize for the lack of a visual on this post. Our main computer took a dive and I can't get to our photos. I'm hoping they're still there. yikes! When we're back up and running, I'll revise this post to add a photo.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Last weekend two lovely ladies and I co-hosted a baby shower for
a mutual friend. We served lunch under the pergola on a gorgeous patio.
Everything was simply but beautifully decorated and we lucked out on the
weather, especially considering it is mid-October. No breeze and mid-70s.
Perfect.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Continuing our simple but beautiful theme was
the menu. We greeted guests with from-scratch French onion dip, sparkling limeade,
iced tea, and mineral water. We continued with chilled grilled shrimp skewers,
greens lightly dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar then finished with
Hawaiian sea salt, and Orzo and Roasted Vegetable Salad. We finished the day by
serving delicious mini peanut butter chocolate cupcakes. The beauty of this
menu was that it was all done in advance so guests walked into the party and were greeted by a relaxed hostess (or hostesses </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;">).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Yours truly was responsible for the French onion dip
and Orzo and Roasted Vegetable Salad, which was adapted from a Barefoot
Contessa recipe my sis-in-law turned me onto years ago when we gave a bridal shower for a dear friend. The veg was all roasted and refrigerated the day prior. My OCD tendencies (I only have a few...) didn’t
allow me to throw all the veg on one sheet pan and toss it in the oven. No, I
roasted each separately to make certain nothing over cooked (and, no, I don’t have two ovens). I even went so far
as to chop the scallions, juice the lemons, and toast the nuts so all I had to
do the day of the party was cook the orzo, cut up the cheese, and throw it all
together. Easy but there are several steps.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Admittedly, I haven't changed that much of this recipe but I think my changes are worthwhile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Orzo and
Roasted Vegetable Salad<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 small bunch of asparagus*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 red bell pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 yellow bell pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 red onion<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 whole head of garlic*</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">olive oil, salt, and pepper</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Pasta:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">½ pound orzo pasta<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 cups chicken stock*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 cloves garlic, crushed*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Dressing:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 16px;">⅓</span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> cup lemon juice</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande'; font-size: 16px;">⅓</span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> cup olive</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">½ tsp salt</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">½ tsp pepper</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Finishing:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">4 scallions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1½ cups cubed feta (not crumbled, if possible. The French feta I used ended up a</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">combination of cubes and crumbles...)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">15 fresh basil leaves, julienned<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">½</span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> cup toasted walnuts, chopped*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">* = where substitutions or additions from the original recipe have been made</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Preheat the oven to 400°F. Cut the red and yellow
peppers and onion into 1-inch pieces and place on a sheet pan. Drizzle with
olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 minutes (check at 30
minutes). Use your hands to make sure all the pieces are coated. Cut the top quarter or so off the head of garlic and drizzle with olive oil and salt. Roast with peppers and onion. Cut asparagus into 1-inch pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle
with salt and pepper. Roast for ten minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">In a large pot add the chicken stock to the pasta
water and bring to a boil. Add the crushed garlic and salt the water. Boil orzo
per package instructions then drain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">While the pasta is boiling, combine the lemon juice,
olive oil, salt and pepper and whisk together. <o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Squeeze the garlic out of the head and chop/smash fine and whisk into the dressing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">In a large bowl combine roasted veg, hot pasta, and dressing. (It’s important to add the dressing to hot pasta so it soaks it up.)
Cool in fridge until just before you’re ready to serve then add the scallions,
feta, basil, and nuts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">There are so many ways to change this and make it your own:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul style="font-family: Times;">
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Israeli couscous, barley, or brown rice instead of orzo</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Use all stock instead of water to boil the pasta or grains</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Steam the veg to reduce the fat content</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Add blanched green beans, fresh tomatoes, arugula or other greens</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Switch the cheese to shaved parmesan, manchego, or omit it entirely</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Change the basil to tarragon, parsley, thyme, or whatever you like</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Incorporate pitted olives or marinated mushrooms</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Make it a main course with shrimp, salami, chicken, tofu, or even tuna (to create a nicoise-inspired salad)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Do as the original recipe suggests and serve it warm.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="font-family: Times;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Mmmm... so yummy and healthy, too. Had lots of raves and requests for the recipe so here it is. Off to put the folded laundry away. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 11px;">… yaay</span></div>
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</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhQdzESK4vGxSKvn5vnRB8Woh9-krKrBXFOEzAWjyb-JVmrl47fOx95uajOuLpMPCBQ-FWmxlzNRCM8rI1fmYB08yomRgsP-Be0dTct9gzKt258AuicF1LhGWk_4cUjNHOK4FJEl18WCW/s1600/P1010002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKhQdzESK4vGxSKvn5vnRB8Woh9-krKrBXFOEzAWjyb-JVmrl47fOx95uajOuLpMPCBQ-FWmxlzNRCM8rI1fmYB08yomRgsP-Be0dTct9gzKt258AuicF1LhGWk_4cUjNHOK4FJEl18WCW/s640/P1010002.JPG" width="640" /></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Like many in America, we’re not eating as much bread
as we used to. When The Captain and I were first married in the late ‘90s, a
loaf a French bread was a common accompaniment to our weeknight meals. We’re
fortunate that we live in the north Bay Area where Model Bakery, Raymond’s
Bread, ACME, and other amazing boulangeries are just around the corner or in
the next town – therefore, really fresh. However, in the last ten years we’ve
taken to buying those delicious loaves only when we have company – or decide to
have Shrimp Mosca…. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Unless the Captain’s family is over and we serve
“Lorna Bread” (garlic bread that ends up blackened in the broiler while we’re
distracting Lorna </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;">),
we end up with leftovers. (We still devour the Lorna Bread. Hey, people eat
blackened fish…) I absolutely hate throwing bread away. Why, you ask, when it’s
so easily found? Because a) I love croutons on my salad on occasion and b) when
Thanksgiving comes around and I make enough cornbread stuffing to feed an army,
one of the flavors/textures I love most is the sourdough mixed in. (I’ll post
my Cornbread Stuffing recipe next month.) Bread already cubed and in the
freezer saves purchasing and cutting it up all at once, which is tedious and
time consuming but not so a little at a time. It only takes a minute or two to
cut leftover bread into cubes, throw it in a zipper bag, and toss it in the
freezer -- ready and waiting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The best thing about cubing the bread prior to
freezing is that the entire leftover loaf need not be defrosted. You take out
only as much you want to use. For instance, last night I had a hankerin’ for
some comfort food but knew I needed a salad instead of homemade mac and cheese
so I made croutons to scratch the itch. The Captain was working so it was just
The Boy and me. I only needed a handful. The chicken was already in the oven
when the inspiration hit me so I tossed some cubes in a bowl, drizzled in a bit
of melted butter mixed with olive oil, threw in salt, pepper, and Herbes de
Provence. After mixing the still frozen bread cubes with the butter/olive oil
and herbs, I placed them on a small sheet pan and put them in the oven with the
chicken for about 15 minutes at 400°F. Oh, so good, especially still warm from
the oven. mmmm</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Even better, I made just enough that I don’t have
leftovers and am, thus, not tempted to continue snacking on them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">A little insight as to why I began cutting the cubes
in advance is that when I started with a whole loaf a couple of Thanksgivings
ago, not only was that a monotonous task but I’m not a patient person.
Therefore, the cubes began as ½ inch and ended up closer to an inch toward the
end of the loaf since I bore easily (I’m a Gemini, whadya want?)… those don’t
work as well for either croutons or stuffing – unless you want to stuff your
mouth. I was ready to give the rest of the project up to crustini for
bruschetta or just dump it in the trash and tell my family to forget about
stuffing that year. That would not have gone over well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">While not a big fan of her recipes, I do subscribe
to the Rachael Ray method of measurement. I eyeball things. If you’re not
comfortable with that, I can try to be a little more specific for you but this
really isn’t rocket science. It's also hard to give exact measurements when it
depends on how much leftover bread you have. A couple slices or two-thirds of
loaf is a big difference.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Crouton Recipe,
Shmecipe<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Cut some crusty bread into ½ inch cubes (fresh, two
or three days old, does <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>NOT
have to be sourdough (but old hamburger buns do not work...),<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>whatever
you have)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Melt some butter (use your best judgment. this isn’t
a bread <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">float</i>. How much <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>would
you put on that much popcorn? use half of that because…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Mix with about the same amount of olive oil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Salt (go easy) and pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Herbs of your choice (I used dried Herbes de
Provence because it was within <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">arm’s reach). Rosemary,
thyme, oregano, tarragon, Herbes de Provence, Italian Seasoning, whatever you
have on hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Toss all ingredients together and place on a sheet
pan in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Something else to try is thinly slicing garlic and
gently simmering it in the butter and/or olive oil for just a couple minutes,
not giving it time to brown even a little. Remove the garlic and then drizzle
over bread before baking… numnum OH! Or you can cheat a little and use powdered
garlic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Oh, Oh, Oh! Or parmesan cheese (when I was a little
thing I used to call it Farmer John cheese. Too funny.) added toward the end
just to melt it over the bread and get it a little bubbly… oooh, yeeeah. More
like parmesan AND garlic butter/olive oil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Is it any wonder I need to lose a few pounds? Maybe
I should get up from the computer and … fold laundry then walk and do some yoga.
Off I go!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-89544276931315829122012-09-11T21:58:00.000-07:002012-09-11T21:58:37.191-07:00Canoeing on the Russian River<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDB7oAtuS7pZioRZx5maTzfxPrHOSqLX1VGPdo2jcUw5O9LX63FLaQHohcSqtc73pfnpUvOhdL_XCD_s5nH7RoGtzoJZ0Hs7svizvMO2L5m_FT-hqkrGpTqZYHuXBOmtFwswN2Ut8ACBRl/s1600/Canoes+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDB7oAtuS7pZioRZx5maTzfxPrHOSqLX1VGPdo2jcUw5O9LX63FLaQHohcSqtc73pfnpUvOhdL_XCD_s5nH7RoGtzoJZ0Hs7svizvMO2L5m_FT-hqkrGpTqZYHuXBOmtFwswN2Ut8ACBRl/s320/Canoes+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canoes at the ready</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">For the past few years, The Captain has been in
charge of organizing all the overnights and camping trips for The Boy’s Cub
Scout Pack. Recently, we spent a weekend camping and canoeing in Forestville,
CA on the Russian River. If you've read my prior posts, you've deduced that we
live in Northern California so this is little more than an hour from home. For
years every time we drove to the Sonoma Coast, The Captain mentioned wanting to
spend a weekend at a place called Burke’s Canoes. This is where our adventure
took place.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">The canoe trip itself was really fun. Being that we
are a family of three and another family came as a father and son, The Boy and
I were paired with them since Burke’s requires at least two adults per canoe. The
Captain took a kayak and the rest of the families stayed together in their
threes and fours. It was decided that next time we will split up all the
couples since our canoe had no marital strife considering there was no
marriage… It also happens that not only did I have a great partner but I take
instruction well and don’t like conflict, especially when my child’s life may
be at stake.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DUCHmw0wVzH4OnivBPxtMBI59Lg-kL-kgX_bfiNUgnIDxq2uflWJvvGq1kAg5KWF0OrggvztRP9Xbt5OjU4pFLuyD8AsIJV3Buat4owYwgJ09euFNOP8yV8u5h3ri-zuNazkTahYWrU4/s1600/P8250025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4DUCHmw0wVzH4OnivBPxtMBI59Lg-kL-kgX_bfiNUgnIDxq2uflWJvvGq1kAg5KWF0OrggvztRP9Xbt5OjU4pFLuyD8AsIJV3Buat4owYwgJ09euFNOP8yV8u5h3ri-zuNazkTahYWrU4/s320/P8250025.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXk9AkKytOhJIUFEI4i2HLmo2PJ6JS6ifH2YLuzv2-XwEhx_USjRuxR8iinDT2hPH9XEIqukCFC1L6ojtpLOrhGOGRcGCYExV8WlY_nTmmdyP2FXVBqI7rgLiD1DbPLlXRPWkD7D6EOvPI/s1600/P8250012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXk9AkKytOhJIUFEI4i2HLmo2PJ6JS6ifH2YLuzv2-XwEhx_USjRuxR8iinDT2hPH9XEIqukCFC1L6ojtpLOrhGOGRcGCYExV8WlY_nTmmdyP2FXVBqI7rgLiD1DbPLlXRPWkD7D6EOvPI/s320/P8250012.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Futura;">Regarding <a href="http://www.burkescanoetrips.com/" target="_blank">Burke’s Canoes</a></span><span style="font-family: Futura;">,
I offer the following: if you are older than your mid-twenties, like your
sleep, and/or have children, do not camp there. Do a day trip or camp elsewhere
and use their canoes but, I repeat, do not camp there. The first of the two
nights was ridiculously loud until about 2:30 am. Not by any of our lot, who
went to bed around 10:00 pm knowing we had a long day ahead, but from the
younger set who brought the entire frat along for the ride. The more they
drank, the louder they became. (I was in college once upon a time, I remember.)
The next morning my friend Laura said she’d slept just fine and then produced
her earplugs. In hindsight, the camp manager told us this was the case but did
so in some hippy code to which we didn’t have the key. He simply said that if
it got too loud we should “bang hard on John’s door (the trailer in the middle
of the campground) but make sure you bang hard cuz he’s a deep sleeper.” Yeah.
We’re going to walk up through all the loud people and complain because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that’s</i> a good idea. No one ever said. Our
mistake was making the assumption that there was 10:00 pm curfew/quiet time
enforced. Well, we all know what happens when we ASSume. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> (sorry, Mom and Auntie Sharon.)</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxxrNNYYkIEi1-np-bku3hSeS6zAGitF25C5tc5w_i1qEjNq_5fTZJiRZkMFeE85-OkwY74zxUv3VaFTA4KU-ea8ppIgRY591YkgNsUhHcEN7XoMWtXhhaMXZB9Isjex9wjw_klOOmPWk/s1600/Campsite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWxxrNNYYkIEi1-np-bku3hSeS6zAGitF25C5tc5w_i1qEjNq_5fTZJiRZkMFeE85-OkwY74zxUv3VaFTA4KU-ea8ppIgRY591YkgNsUhHcEN7XoMWtXhhaMXZB9Isjex9wjw_klOOmPWk/s320/Campsite.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of campsites... the dusty part.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Beyond that and more importantly, the children were
not really welcome at Burke’s. In fact, ours were the ONLY children there. First
the kids wanted to play right in front of our campsites. However, there is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so much dust</i> at Burke’s that we had to
ask them not to run and kick it up because we were cooking and did they want
grit in their food? They went to play near the water but that wasn’t okay with Burke’s
management. So they moved up closer to the canoes (which we kept them from
climbing on and around). The management asked the kids not to play there so they
moved further up to play on the hill. But that wasn’t okay either because it
was “too close to the road” (aka the office) that ran around the campsites but not
more than two cars moved around it and did so slowly because the management
kept yelling at them to slow down. Eventually, after realizing they had left
the children nowhere to play, the water became okay again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfDOCIWs_scNi_aHGOADB9cP20D0oN0rFUhTO0ySFeUoi-GQgVdqCR6hVqXQKu2Vk5D-8_2_Q08FiU0wv7G_13pVET5g82AUaoxe2PoX13VRfzYyOP_2a2QXimEicJi9c0XRXrCE4r_Bu/s1600/P8250032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsfDOCIWs_scNi_aHGOADB9cP20D0oN0rFUhTO0ySFeUoi-GQgVdqCR6hVqXQKu2Vk5D-8_2_Q08FiU0wv7G_13pVET5g82AUaoxe2PoX13VRfzYyOP_2a2QXimEicJi9c0XRXrCE4r_Bu/s320/P8250032.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Despite all this, the trip included a tolerant and
fun group of people: two families we know well and four others with whom we
were only acquainted. As I’ve said in previous posts, it never ceases to amaze
me the quality of families who are involved in Scouts. Over the weekend we
found that we really enjoyed hanging out with all these folks who come from all
walks of life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdLZt82Gp0gmbFHlw3v6rYqsa6FVfK1zhHUOKD5dy4Ff4-OF2swG9dz98JLpkjuNeC_q78Xo-Iyw0kUim2aYc5HTN31LCKkSB8IajXBTvfIrQZKnAQk3obw3pCVF5XoZUiRapM5rePrce/s1600/P8250050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzdLZt82Gp0gmbFHlw3v6rYqsa6FVfK1zhHUOKD5dy4Ff4-OF2swG9dz98JLpkjuNeC_q78Xo-Iyw0kUim2aYc5HTN31LCKkSB8IajXBTvfIrQZKnAQk3obw3pCVF5XoZUiRapM5rePrce/s320/P8250050.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_1rpNZhRUT3p4N4fR0QzKbPDsG4ulOUkagaFZN3lzugWXRu34vOqWpy7l561m1NcZDsrLxNeNgUbcSH-ewWC0lVckPvqIeIya-6YpZ8fjw9qZQVxw7k3lDJWqF8gvfWET0st3x8t2THu/s1600/P8250006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_1rpNZhRUT3p4N4fR0QzKbPDsG4ulOUkagaFZN3lzugWXRu34vOqWpy7l561m1NcZDsrLxNeNgUbcSH-ewWC0lVckPvqIeIya-6YpZ8fjw9qZQVxw7k3lDJWqF8gvfWET0st3x8t2THu/s320/P8250006.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Futura;">I mention the following only because The Captain
deserves the credit for so much more than making a few phone calls. This is
also the last overnight The Captain will be overseeing as The Boy will be
Bridging to Boy Scouts this February. As well as making all the reservations, The
Captain also prepares all the food for the weekend camping trips (actually, I
was allowed to make a few things for breakfast one day but that is unusual </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;">). He doesn’t have to do this but he has a powerful
need to take care of people by making sure they are well fed. It runs in his
family. He’s a great cook so there are no complaints. Our camping fare is much
simpler than what we would serve at home but it’s comforting and tasty,
nonetheless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpNVNsbZmO4rjGcEOoU36OCumNZ9A4MKszC9rT069378gPx8qv6W355zljaTTdb0M4pbfj2-TrpSQ257tsUTAPj1-gzspkrDt7DJ6PdSH39497EbKETb1otrxjKQyBMZSpXGJ9ANAf16x/s1600/P8250004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpNVNsbZmO4rjGcEOoU36OCumNZ9A4MKszC9rT069378gPx8qv6W355zljaTTdb0M4pbfj2-TrpSQ257tsUTAPj1-gzspkrDt7DJ6PdSH39497EbKETb1otrxjKQyBMZSpXGJ9ANAf16x/s320/P8250004.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Last Friday night at our first official Pack Meeting
of the year, I found myself in a circle with many of the other parents who
attended the canoeing weekend. I can personally attest to the importance of
team building. This adventure definitely made the Den Leaders and Officers
present more cohesive and better invested in one another’s kids. Overall, I think
this will help us all create the nurturing atmosphere our boys need to have yet another successful year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitE0oa1IoSmN7mujqXGqo9nQULMyaXucQ9WwTT1RbWRppNb6eoJroNd4XCxethdABEpws5b5rGeJSfBP2ZgZXDdRYw9WU_iUgHwkPIgDlfySfuanGko7Ie4RSlnffLsEc4LO_Zbk0kAxok/s1600/P8250045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitE0oa1IoSmN7mujqXGqo9nQULMyaXucQ9WwTT1RbWRppNb6eoJroNd4XCxethdABEpws5b5rGeJSfBP2ZgZXDdRYw9WU_iUgHwkPIgDlfySfuanGko7Ie4RSlnffLsEc4LO_Zbk0kAxok/s400/P8250045.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">It’s a great day for Scouting!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-25421657338965252082012-08-31T17:09:00.000-07:002012-08-31T17:09:18.239-07:00Ritter-Done Camping Co. presents: RitterFest 2012<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHako3EXyU3HYT5glum9dRvgg5KhZ0_9-HhsWFDzfrq8XNbSMMNjO013AtRmae2DGbqB114XtjNxdgAycv4btP9ILTT3W_VXaOE8WNaczgMNQPMul1Da3IsDAIbh-AYjWymYHBSfXw4KyN/s1600/P7270115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHako3EXyU3HYT5glum9dRvgg5KhZ0_9-HhsWFDzfrq8XNbSMMNjO013AtRmae2DGbqB114XtjNxdgAycv4btP9ILTT3W_VXaOE8WNaczgMNQPMul1Da3IsDAIbh-AYjWymYHBSfXw4KyN/s640/P7270115.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Niece Jessica's artwork on a wine barrel<br />(hey, RitterFest may not take place in Napa Valley but <br />we have to take a little bit of Napa Valley with us. )<br />Her work is available on Facebook at Mundy Creations</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">The Captain’s annual family reunion is lovingly
referred to as RitterFest. For many years The Captain’s sister took her
immediate family on an annual weekend trek to Yosemite. Eventually, her kids
started bringing friends then girl/boyfriends then spouses. Needless to say,
none too soon after the spouses arrived, so did babies; thus, putting a
temporary end to their annual excursion.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boy jumping off the rock. Last year and the year<br />before they were jumping off the big one...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">As happens in many families, a whole crop of babies
arrived at once. When the oldest three were about age two, we couldn’t restrain
ourselves any longer and decided to find a family-friendly campsite to
introduce the wee ones to our love of the great outdoors. At the time The
Captain and I owned a mostly unimproved piece of creek front property in our
beloved Trinity Alps and wanted to host everyone there. The Captain spent an
exhausting week attempting to carve a large enough space for all the tents out
of the tall grass on the terraced hillside. A bit defeated, he
admitted he just didn’t feel he could do enough to make it right. So... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura; font-size: small;">Our first RitterFest was spent up the road at Trinity Lake. We numbered about twenty including three teeny weenies. The next year we went to Calaveras Big Trees and found Beaver Creek; we numbered about twenty-five. The following year we were in Mendocino County. Then my mother-in-law offered her “back forty” which is about half an hour from our place in Trinity County. It offered a fabulous creek deep enough to swim in, plenty of room for tents, and showers at her house a quarter mile up the road. Most of all, not only was it free, it was private. This is important because we are loud -- very, very loud. How could we say no?</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Guinness with Canyon and his 5 gallon water bottle</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> The Captain enjoying Ritterbrau</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">That was in 2007. The family has since improved my mum-in-law’s
property with a bathroom, an outdoor kitchen sink and counter top, and several
other smaller bits and pieces. A trail to the creek was blazed so we no longer have to repel the canyon to get
to it from the campsite. Since then our numbers have grown to about forty
humans and seven dogs (helping keep the bears and mountain lions away) with an
additional ten local family for Saturday dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wonder who they're aiming for... probably Uncle Captain</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Not only have our numbers grown, our weekend has
gotten longer. We used to leave home Friday morning and return Sunday evening
with some of us working a full day Friday and not arriving until late. Over the
years we’ve had some good natured competition to see who can get there first with
this year’s winner being Brother James and Jackie who arrived Tuesday near
midnight and all but one family coming Wednesday by early afternoon. We still
don’t leave until Sunday after one last dip in the creek.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sisters-in-law waiting for our Cabana Boys </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Our active family <i>loves</i> spending time in the creek,
which is snowmelt and, therefore, COLD. But the mountain air in late July is
HOT so the contrast is welcome. Whether you’re lounging on a raft,
jumping off the rock, snorkeling, throwing rocks over the dam, or just
sitting on the bank with your toes in the water catching up, everyone is having
fun in the creek from around 10:00 am until dinner. This year while floating
around, Sis-in-law and I discovered we had Cabana Boys in the guise of husbands
who willingly went up to get us drinks (happy wife, happy life! </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;">). …I’ll be storing that tidbit away for future
reference.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saturday dinner</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The only two shared meals are Saturday dinner and
Sunday breakfast. The menus for these are family favorites. Dinner is The
Captain’s smoked and BBQ’d ribs, Sister Jeri’s beans and cornbread (or Orb
Bread. haha, family joke), Niece Rachel’s green salad (using Jeri’s homegrown
lettuces), Brother James and Jackie’s pasta salad, Steve's guacamole, and Mum Wendy’s desserts.
Sunday breakfast is The Captain’s biscuits, Sister Lorna’s gravy,
Brother-in-law Jim’s egg scramble, and Sister Jeri’s Jeri-Deli Blackberry Jelly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">We engage in other activities than eating such as
crafts for the kids, cards and other table games, and giving the kids rides on
Uncle James’ dirt bike. At the end of the road there is a beautiful hike
to the Falls which we do one morning before it gets too hot. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">The surroundings are beautiful. This part of the canyon is almost completely unspoiled since the gold mining days 150 years ago. In fact, something the kids love is discovering the occasional artifact from days gone by. This year The Boy found a rusted railroad spike and wanted to know if we could look for antique finger prints. Too cute. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmv4JnKQiOFqItWCpP0BZfs8LZ0GgMG6_GDu9df5sFPR2ltbbcCg8r7kaO3gUdG2LWH5CW74s9gKCOTFWEKyADPXVBDBvL6yEXOod1IsEMpVQeW5t2RCE9P4559glHeoNLMmOvP5YeZvaP/s1600/P7280194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmv4JnKQiOFqItWCpP0BZfs8LZ0GgMG6_GDu9df5sFPR2ltbbcCg8r7kaO3gUdG2LWH5CW74s9gKCOTFWEKyADPXVBDBvL6yEXOod1IsEMpVQeW5t2RCE9P4559glHeoNLMmOvP5YeZvaP/s400/P7280194.JPG" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Futura;">Brother Eric is an accomplished, self-taught guitar
player. Most years he and I start six months in advance working on which
song(s) we are going to perform and which others we are going to lead for group
singing. Over the years we have accumulated a popular playlist. However, this
year, Brother Eric was not available to practice due to work, etc. and, in fact, wasn’t able to attend RitterFest. He was sorely missed by everyone all day but especially while we were sitting around the campfire. The Eagles Greatest
Hits playing repeatedly on a car stereo had to suffice. Not quite the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-O9G2b3qEzu_CAxbjrVIZxjLcta4ZwbkD2HwNZO3X4Qdvw_-7xIZsZdB05HqVQo_d9yUZ-cyGmDUjuo65-5mic0jxpa_qmeAZhsYhCJeKer95uWnvEKQjtTmhsICbZ22DmaLCOVu3GV5/s1600/P7270124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-O9G2b3qEzu_CAxbjrVIZxjLcta4ZwbkD2HwNZO3X4Qdvw_-7xIZsZdB05HqVQo_d9yUZ-cyGmDUjuo65-5mic0jxpa_qmeAZhsYhCJeKer95uWnvEKQjtTmhsICbZ22DmaLCOVu3GV5/s320/P7270124.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbKbUpmVxovT7S1GLXbruRZaF2OLDOGrue2oJWiiAr2ndMfJdA7sU8MsAfGUTj9qKguwF56IfXl5ewonLcFO0F9jaIkKK32bM32MEnCaBTU5MSt05RsNIBy0jAaSxCrLLswF0SSkfOjsho/s1600/P7260100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbKbUpmVxovT7S1GLXbruRZaF2OLDOGrue2oJWiiAr2ndMfJdA7sU8MsAfGUTj9qKguwF56IfXl5ewonLcFO0F9jaIkKK32bM32MEnCaBTU5MSt05RsNIBy0jAaSxCrLLswF0SSkfOjsho/s320/P7260100.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">We start planning next year’s event while we’re
still at this year’s. The date is set in January and everyone asks for the time off from
work right away. Brother Eric and I usually start practicing songs shortly
thereafter. The Captain begins the Ritterbrau (his homebrew) four to six months
in advance so it’s perfect for the event. Soon he’ll also be redesigning and
building a larger “Ref-Ritter-ator” (self-contained, fully-insulated, non-electric,
portable kegerator that will hold a fifteen gallon keg since ten gallons was
not enough). Nephew Vas begins work on the logo in June so Sister Lorna can
order the T-shirts. Sister Jeri makes enough jelly to feed us all and send some
home. Adult and wee Ritters look forward to RitterFest all year long. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">If you’re interested in being invited, Brother Eric is single, early 40s and cute. You’ll
have to marry him first. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-11335524030284467442012-07-02T13:16:00.000-07:002012-07-02T13:16:52.354-07:00The Wonderful World of Disney Final<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YxZvD7Rag7wzIBraMDjvMsiVxyVvHkrqy8j304QotcuGwYKn1XQz2EgwR4ufEu1RhjyCkewHB7ekvMcQlImBFCg4RxCkfJu38ct8cPvbeBy89hXqa20CxqDqXrzDvIBGTlnbb7nV0E1L/s1600/P6020090.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4YxZvD7Rag7wzIBraMDjvMsiVxyVvHkrqy8j304QotcuGwYKn1XQz2EgwR4ufEu1RhjyCkewHB7ekvMcQlImBFCg4RxCkfJu38ct8cPvbeBy89hXqa20CxqDqXrzDvIBGTlnbb7nV0E1L/s400/P6020090.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boy talking with Anakin Skywalker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Day 13 – Homeward Bound</span></i></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">As I thought, I didn’t sleep last night… well, not
until about hour or so before I was supposed to get up. So off we went on
Disney’s Magical Express to Orlando International with a bus driver who thought
he was hilarious. He wasn’t. Not only that but his diction and sinus congestion left even more to be desired... We had to wait an hour and half
before they let us board our flight. Actually, we didn’t hear the call and missed our
priority boarding so we had to sit near the back of the plane. Oops. Not so bad
but it was a full load. Our layover in Denver was literally about ten minutes,
just enough time to get off one plane and on the next. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">We thought we’d have time to at least grab a
sandwich. In fact, we were counting on this since we didn’t eat breakfast. The
pretzels and drinks just weren’t enough. Our travel agent had sent us a gift
basket filled with snacks and we had a few left over from our meal plan so we
didn’t starve but it was far from a proper meal. Needless to say, we arrived
home to an empty fridge. Normally when we’re traveling my mom and dad will pop
by the market for fruit, eggs and milk and turn on the a/c (which needs fixing)
or heat before we return, as well as provide dinner that first night. However,
mom and dad were with us so that didn’t work. After unpacking and getting the
laundry sorted and the luggage in the garage, we went to Chipotle for dinner
then to Whole Foods for some basics. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Captain was in bed at 6:00. I followed him at
8:00 and got up an hour later to insist The Boy go to bed. It was sooo nice to
be in my own bed with my own pillow. I slept like a baby –
until about 04:30.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimCbfMNC9z_Lcwq62TVTL-SXa1eGHf65FrIjbGUmipGoNQs8_vpOCFgST8IGA5w7Guah5rV5Rf7OpsGhNu_I5axJ2hc7uthZdleoMRXWQBOgHQ8zspqkrh8lOBucqv0p1XwNcPvQJ4uXf/s1600/P6010054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgimCbfMNC9z_Lcwq62TVTL-SXa1eGHf65FrIjbGUmipGoNQs8_vpOCFgST8IGA5w7Guah5rV5Rf7OpsGhNu_I5axJ2hc7uthZdleoMRXWQBOgHQ8zspqkrh8lOBucqv0p1XwNcPvQJ4uXf/s400/P6010054.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The courtyard in the Jamaica section of WDW's Caribbean Beach Resort</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Post - Walt Disney World Vacation Notes –</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">We stayed in the Jamaica section at the Caribbean
Beach Resort (CBR) on the WDW property. This is a huge resort; the largest in
WDW. It has its own bus system. Jamaica is about a four-minute walk to the main
pool and the chow hall… close compared to many of the other sections.
Considering the number of guests, they do a pretty good job; however, I read in
the Unofficial Guide to WDW (a great resource) that they do not make any of the
cooked food on site, that it is brought in and kept warm. This has to be true.
The building wasn’t big enough to accommodate a kitchen large enough to get all
those meals prepared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Next time we are going to stay at the Animal Kingdom
Lodge. It is a step up in the WDW hotel scale and about $75 more per night.
However, it was beautiful and had a cozy, warmth the CBR lacked. Having lived
in Africa for three years, The Captain wouldn’t even entertain this hotel as one of our options because he just knew it would be cheesy; after seeing it in person he agreed
that it was just like a high-end hotel one might find in Kenya. And they have
queen size beds. And the food was better. And they have an on-site kitchen. And
a TV tuned to the Disney Channel in a separate area from the fire pit in the lobby.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc6m371dreAS0tdjfPoFY9O6hVTvv953OcPqe5mYLz1r7LdvkAKRkBLqBepSg4fltFLn2I4N3jlnHTIVvwilzrukr0_62N2C0uTI4-ZPP7cfWlWg9DNGGPL4MEfA9lxiMJrnb-eu8psr8/s1600/P6010070.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCc6m371dreAS0tdjfPoFY9O6hVTvv953OcPqe5mYLz1r7LdvkAKRkBLqBepSg4fltFLn2I4N3jlnHTIVvwilzrukr0_62N2C0uTI4-ZPP7cfWlWg9DNGGPL4MEfA9lxiMJrnb-eu8psr8/s400/P6010070.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boy and Dale at the <br />Grill in The Land at Epcot</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Disney Dining Plan saved us hundreds of dollars.
We were able to eat healthier meals in nicer restaurants than we would have
without it. The Captain said next time he wants to save all of our dining
receipts so we can compare to get a better handle on our savings but we know it
saved us money because the receipts showed the average table service meal was
about $90 for the three of us. To quote The Captain, we didn’t feel like we
were hemorrhaging money every time we sat down to eat. He was relaxed and
enjoyed himself more because of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Our travel agent (the best TA <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ever</i>) has been to WDW many times and gave us great advice. The
dining plan options are hard to grasp when you’ve never used them before. It
goes from a) two “counter service” (fast food) meals and one snack per day to
b) one counter service, one table service, and one snack per day to c)
something like three table service and two snacks per day. That last one is a
huge jump, especially considering that each meal, whether counter or table
service, includes a drink, entrée, and dessert – lots of food, more than we’re
used to eating. If we had chosen the last one, I’m pretty convinced we would
have done nothing but go from restaurant to restaurant and wouldn’t have had
time to enjoy the parks. On our travel agent's advice, we went with the middle option b) of one counter
service, one table service, and one snack per person per day. As it fell, the
last day we still had four counter service meals and seven snacks. My parents
had four counter service and eighteen snacks leftover. Since leftover meals and
snacks expire at midnight of checkout day, we opted to get fruit and yogurt,
pretzels and chips, and some sweet treats to take home with us. Good thing,
too, since we didn’t have time at the airport!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Advance dining reservations are a must. Even though
our travel agent knew when to call and did so immediately, she had a really
hard time getting preferred times for us since they book up so quickly. In
fact, we weren’t able to get one reservation at all at Chef Mickey’s due to its
popularity. I even tried while we were there and they couldn’t accommodate us
as no one cancels. Many reservations require a credit card hold and if you
don’t show up or fail to cancel at least 24 hours in advance, they charge $10
per person. This didn’t happen to us despite about seven such reservations. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">My cousin took his family to WDW last year and
didn’t do the dining plan or book reservations in advance and it was a struggle
while they were there. He said he will make use of those options next time.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The real beauty of the dining plan is that you know
the total cost of your vacation before you leave home, excepting souvenirs and
gratuities, of course. We paid for only three meals: one at the airport on the
way, one at Universal Studios, and one at Kennedy Space Center. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Regarding Extra Magic Hours… take advantage of
these. EMH are only available to WDW Resort guests so it pays to stay on
property. At least one park each day opens early and/or stays open late. To get on
a ride guests have to show their currently dated room key, which is also their park hopper tickets, and dining plan. Therefore, if you’re staying
elsewhere, you might as well go home cuz Disney is closed for you! Wait times
are often ten minutes or less. We found that a posted ten-minute wait time
usually meant you would be through the line and finished with the ride in less
than ten minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">We are from northern California where it is wet and
cold in the winter and dry and moderately hot in the summer; best described as a Mediterranean climate. In other words,
we’re soft and spoiled. It rains in Florida in the summer. A LOT!!! My cousin’s
family went at the exact same time as we did but last year. All I heard from
them was that it was HOT!!! …and it rained a bit so take your ponchos. So we
were prepared. Our experience was that it was WET!!! …and it was hot sometimes
so stay hydrated. Had I known our experience would be wet instead of hot, I
would have looked for different shoes to take. It doesn’t bother some people to
walk around in wet shoes all day. However, I can’t stand it. It’s all I think
about with every step. My Teva’s, which I took, were purchased to be creek
shoes not walking shoes but I taped up my toes and put gel pads under the balls
of my feet and that worked well... too bad I didn’t come up with this plan
until three days before we left. Loads of people were wearing Keens and I think
I need to find myself a pair for next time (I have about five years to save my
pennies…). The Captain wore his water moccasins with socks and was happy as a
clam. The Boy was in the same boat as me. His Merrill’s are super comfy for
walking but the suede is not great for wet weather and he’s just not much of a
sandal kid. Everyone was wearing Crocs and we let The Boy wear his on the
first couple of days… which created blisters that had to be cared for for a
week. Poor guy. Mole skin and blister packs are your best friends. Buy them before you go and carry them in your day pack. If you start to feel a twinge STOP
RIGHT NOW and fix it. Don’t wait. You can thank me later.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">After rereading my posts, I am aware of my fixation on food. Yes, partly that's an admitted addiction in my everyday life, but vacations for me aren't just about sight seeing. I need to be immersed in my experience to fully appreciate it. All five senses must be engaged. So to all those thin people out there who don't appreciate my obsession, sorry. Sort of.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Disney is not a cheap vacation. Souvenirs are
expensive but we knew that going in so it didn’t bother us. Not that we’re made
of money, however, some things just are what they are. So instead of
complaining about it, cheaping out, being resentful, or doing without something
we want, we just go for it. We know other families who don’t buy any souvenirs
and eat all their meals in their room out of a cooler. But running back to your
room in the middle of the day or going hungry because the food is expensive
seems ridiculous. Stick to your budget but embrace your vacation and enjoy that
$4 Mickey shaped ice cream sandwich.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-46499061683066202672012-06-25T08:54:00.000-07:002012-06-25T08:54:14.331-07:00The Wonderful World of Disney Part 3<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Day 9 – The Boy’s Day Off from Vacation</span></i></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Today was supposed to be spent at Universal Studio’s
Islands of Adventure; however, The Boy woke up with tummy troubles and a
temperature of 101°. So our plans changed. We’re hanging out in the room watching
TV. I'm blogging, updating my Facebook status, playing FarmVille (I know, I know, I’m the
last one who’s still playing that ridiculous game), and surfing the web. Mom and
Dad went to Downtown Disney for a little retail therapy and a late lunch. When
they return, The Captain and I will go while M&D watch The Boy. We’re hoping
to be able to go to Universal tomorrow and do Kennedy Space Center on Sunday. My
dear auntie texted asking for details on how we liked Harry Potter World and
put The Boy on the prayer chain at church instead. It’s nice to be loved.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
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</div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Day 10 – Hogsmeade and Butter Beer</span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PasYKTgPHRnllRkScsGB_0bbng2FFaqj5ORGP_s5aLhTP2OTy12MOHCWzARRIUAwK2QlxsVGcFHzieF_SZ77mHBMXHF8c73lxefzOYCNK1-UH36POJ6bZOVQwRaJoOfxp4Lz9jD39GHk/s1600/P6090208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_PasYKTgPHRnllRkScsGB_0bbng2FFaqj5ORGP_s5aLhTP2OTy12MOHCWzARRIUAwK2QlxsVGcFHzieF_SZ77mHBMXHF8c73lxefzOYCNK1-UH36POJ6bZOVQwRaJoOfxp4Lz9jD39GHk/s640/P6090208.JPG" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollivander's Wand Shop, Universal Studios' <br />
Wizarding World of Harry Potter</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Boy went to bed last night fever free and woke
up this morning good as new. He was ready for Universal Studios’ The Wizarding
World of Harry Potter. It’s only about twenty minutes from WDW but it took us
as long to walk from Preferred Parking (only an extra $5 and well worth it) through the shopping district and to the far right side of the Islands of Adventure park to
Harry Potter's neighborhood. We waited in line about twenty-five minutes for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey</i>
broom ride through Hogwarts Castle then for thirty-five minutes for the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Flight of the Hippogryph</i> (video below). After that it was off to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ollivander’s Wand Shop</i> and the bit
about getting chosen by your wand… not worth the hour wait. Of the thirty
people at a time they allow inside to be chosen, only one actually <i>gets</i> chosen. We were
all very disappointed. However, not disappointing was the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Frozen Butter Beer,</i> which we enjoyed while standing in line. The Captain had a regular butter beer, which is like a soda. Mom and I had frozen ones, more like an Icee. We all agreed frozen in the way to go. I found a recipe for <a href="http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/harry-potters-butterbeer-recipe/1/" target="_blank">butter beer</a>, which I haven't tried yet but thought looked like fun. If you want it frozen you'll have to invest in an Icee machine. Next was the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dragon Challenge</i>, a fast-paced
roller coaster with lots of corkscrew turns and loops. How much fun was that???
SOOOOO much fun. The Captain and The Boy decided to wait in the FIVE MINUTE
line again, this time waiting for the front row. It took longer to walk through the corridors to get to the line than it took to wait in the line. Amazing! I stayed behind and waited
with my parents as I wasn’t sure that butter beer would stay down when tempted a
second time. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Butter Beer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">On the way out we waited twenty-minutes for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sneeches In</i> in Seuss Landing. Lame
doesn’t begin to describe this ride. We continued on to find <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Hulk</i> roller coaster. Although it
looked like fun, I decided to sit it out. You see, Mom, The Captain and I had decided to
enjoy a second butter beer because we knew it wasn’t available anywhere else. I
guess we’ll be able to get some in Los Angeles when Universal opens TWWoHP
there but we only get to that area every other year or so. One way or another,
we justified a second frozen butter beer. A little bit of enabling may have taken
place… hey, they’re really yummy!! By the way, I ordered Pumpkin Juice at lunch. Although tasty, kind of like a juice-thin liquid pumpkin pie, it didn't hold a candle to butter beer.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Most of the storefronts in Hogsmeade are dummies but we did get to go into Honeydukes and Zonkos. There were Cauldron Cakes, Chocolate Frogs and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Licorice Wands and Peppermint Chocolate Frogs. The Boy brought home a Headwig plush toy whose head moves in circles. I was intent on buying him a Griffindor Robe... that is until I saw the price tag. $120. Really??? I would have paid half that happily but -- REALLY??? When we left for the park that morning, The Boy just new he was going to choose either the Elder Wand or Voldemort's Wand as his souvenir. He ended up with a wand that belonged to no one in the books but was instead based on his birthdate. Very cool. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">We’re off to dinner at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Day 11 – NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">First off, dinner last night at the Yacht Club was
great except for Mom’s and my desserts. We had cheesecake and it just wasn’t
good – at all. One bite was all it took. The waiter offered to bring us something
else but we passed. Otherwise, great and fun to see yet another beautiful Disney Resort Hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">This morning it was The Captain’s turn to stay home
with a fever and aching belly so he missed KSC. He would have loved it too. We
just didn’t dare put it off another day. He’ll have something to look forward
to the next time we come to Orlando.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">If you haven’t been to KSC, it is very well worth
the time and money ($45/adult). We spent an additional $40 or so to have lunch
with Astronaut Roger Crouch who was funny and engaging. Even The Boy was
interested and I was certain he’d be bored to tears. The buffet lunch offered the
best veggies we’ve had since we arrived in Florida along with grilled chicken,
fish, and raviolis; oh, and the first cloth table linens we’d seen for a while.
(Okay, we’ve had cloth napkins but no tablecloths.) This lunch beat the heck
out of the $7 hot dog they were offering at the fast food counter, which was
the only other option at the main complex. Included in the price of admission
is a two-hour (or more depending on how long you like to hang out) tour of a
tower overlooking the launch sites and a museum. The museum stop had everything
from original astronauts’ suits, moon rocks, equipment, and memorials, as well
as the rockets themselves – some suspended from the ceiling. It is open from 9
to 6 and we arrived closer to 10:00. We spent about six hours there and could
have spent more time – would have spent more time had we not been anxious to
get back to The Captain. We skimmed over or skipped several things we’d have
liked to do but there just wasn’t time. A second day would have been warranted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">We spent that evening at Downtown Disney where we
enjoyed Disney Quest, a five-story arcade – no quarters needed after paying the $44 entrance fee. Our tickets included Disney Quest and the water parks, as well as a round of golf, which we never even considered because there wasn't time. I left
early with my parents because I thought it was my turn to have tummy issues.
The Captain and The Boy played for a bit then went to see <i>The Avengers</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">While sitting in the room NOT having tummy troubles (apparently I was just hungry), I
was listening to the rain getting heavier and the thunder getting louder and
closer to the lightening strikes. We were in the middle of the most significant electrical storm since we’d arrived in Florida. And my boys were not safe and sound with
me at the hotel. Later The Captain said at first he thought the thunder was
noise from a neighboring movie but soon realized that wasn’t the case. The sky
was alight for a good two hours. When The Captain and The Boy left the theater,
the storm had subsided but left tree limbs strewn about their path. The next
morning’s news reported more than 20,000 lightening strikes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Day 12 – Animal Kingdom and Packing<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">This morning we had our last of five character
breakfasts at the Ohana Restaurant at Disney’s Polynesian Resort. The food was
served family-style and we loved the scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage (mmm),
potatoes, biscuits, sweet breads, Mickey waffles, and passion-orange-guava
juice (or was it papaya). Anyway, we all enjoyed it and since we had a 10:30
reservation, we didn’t eat again until dinner… okay, we had an ice cream about 2:00.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrs7LtT9h0IBtb2vUwUhnKj5nZgDtmMTSWfPYiNsGjlhXJxmk7ah4Y7u1ukhMa9eUAaYDE4X8x6rLo3obAQAG9WfCVRpveu2T400m_da0iED96QI6IGuAmPaLtxXRSdkyGjsw63iStW4g/s1600/IMG_0608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrs7LtT9h0IBtb2vUwUhnKj5nZgDtmMTSWfPYiNsGjlhXJxmk7ah4Y7u1ukhMa9eUAaYDE4X8x6rLo3obAQAG9WfCVRpveu2T400m_da0iED96QI6IGuAmPaLtxXRSdkyGjsw63iStW4g/s400/IMG_0608.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Captain and The Boy in matching Mickey Aloha shirts<br />
on our way to Animal Kingdom via Disney shuttle</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">After breakfast we were off to Animal Kingdom since we
were rained out the last time. Today was hot. No rain. Not even any
clouds. Nope, not one cloud to shade our sweaty, little bodies. Finally we were
able to go on <i>Expedition Everest</i>, which we’d been looking forward to for
months after watching a Netflix program about WDW. Unfortunately, we were all a
little disappointed. After the <i>Dragon Challenge</i> at Universal, <i>Expedition
Everest</i> was left wanting. The line for Kali River Rapids (water ride) was too long to
interest us and I really didn’t want to soak my shoes through again – this time
by choice – and they wouldn’t let me ride without them.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">The stage production of Finding Nemo is well worth waiting for. It was so hot out that the air conditioning was very welcome and would have been worth it even if the show wasn't great... which it was so go see it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Back at the room, packing our suitcases went much more quickly than I expected considering
the number of items we were taking back. However, I had the foresight to pack a
smaller suitcase into a large one on the way out knowing that we might fill them all on our
return. It was brilliant (if I do say so myself) and we even had room for several of my parents’ extra
items.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Time to sign off now. It’s almost midnight and we
have to be up and at ‘em at 05:45. Not
really sure why I feel the need to sign off; I never sleep the night before
traveling. Oh well, one has to try! Nightie night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-75141911351498918192012-06-19T11:28:00.002-07:002012-06-19T11:28:42.103-07:00The Wonderful World of Disney Part 2<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjPOq14ZgNCnD5nZYnCQnmvNreIU-sBOxpfjpVMxDnACEh6-eHnnoO3OZ3CskRuXJDXb0ZvN2H0JPEKvu392RmBqEveu90h8eBhEZNkFhRi_H-JCxDy3-B_podVRSCs0KerMTMUK6PIps/s1600/P6040081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjPOq14ZgNCnD5nZYnCQnmvNreIU-sBOxpfjpVMxDnACEh6-eHnnoO3OZ3CskRuXJDXb0ZvN2H0JPEKvu392RmBqEveu90h8eBhEZNkFhRi_H-JCxDy3-B_podVRSCs0KerMTMUK6PIps/s640/P6040081.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boy and my Dad the Pirate inside Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><i><b>Day 5 – Oh, Oh, Oh, It's Magic, You Knooooow</b></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Today we slept in and went back to the Magic
Kingdom for the day arriving around noon. We had a fabulous day of rides,
parades, and shopping. The highlight of my day was dinner at Cinderella’s Royal
Table. The food was really good but what was even better was the atmosphere. We
had an amazing table at the window overlooking Fantasyland. We met Cinderella,
Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel, and Belle. Ariel was a riot. She started
off by scaring The Boy then ended by saying, “May the Force be with you.” My
dad and The Captain were disappointed that Jasmine wasn’t included (they like
her bare tummy…). But even if the food had been mediocre and we didn’t have a great time meeting princesses, the room was so much fun just to be in. Like walking into the Great Hall complete with banners and coats of arms. Such a surprise.
To top it off, we were each presented with a gift. The Lords received swords and the
Ladies received wands with stars at the end. FUN!!! Made us all feel about
seven years old again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"><i><b>Day 6 – Typhoons, Planned and Unplanned</b></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">It was Typhoon Lagoon water park day! To surprise mom
and dad we rented a cabana (#9) complete with cabana boy who got our lunch and
treats, extra towels, advice and information. It was nice to be able to bring
as much stuff as we wanted and not have to worry whether it would fit into a
locker. We got a prime piece of real estate too! No one had to walk through our
space to get to theirs, which wasn’t true for most of the cabanas. About 2:00
the skies started looking ominous. Sure enough they made us vacate all the
water rides and pools for about an hour while the electrical storm passed. It
was the first time I’ve been cold since arriving.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entertainment provided during dinner.<br />
Sorry, Mom. Not a great pic of you... as for<br />
The Boy's face? No words.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom and Dad showing off<br />
German Mouse Ears</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">We went to dinner afterward at Epcot’s
Interna-tional Showcase Germany in the Biergarten. It was a buffet and there was
so much to choose from. I like German food -- A LOT! Not surprising really since
that is my heritage. Bier runs through my veins. There was also a show and they
encouraged us to get up and dance. We decided that we’d stay put as our feet
were already tender and we had just arrived for the evening. ...I may have flapped my wings during the Chicken Dance.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhBDbONSLE7FG89VB3mLe6WhaooHa9x-1U1cuHTR9qR6kePdolEF0FomxC-vrAPkJ-RZOHNAzKuY1stsYc9b277cgups2r_P5mQZ6byLRY-Sv3cBfGb9qn_oD7uflOqVZDHHm50cXt57o/s1600/P6050127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGhBDbONSLE7FG89VB3mLe6WhaooHa9x-1U1cuHTR9qR6kePdolEF0FomxC-vrAPkJ-RZOHNAzKuY1stsYc9b277cgups2r_P5mQZ6byLRY-Sv3cBfGb9qn_oD7uflOqVZDHHm50cXt57o/s640/P6050127.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and The Captain enjoying our bier. I didn't even temporarily entertain <br />
getting that enormous beverage he's holding. Not even sure I could pick it up!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">As per usual on this trip, it started raining,
except it didn’t start until after dinner. I didn’t want to get my shoes soaked
through again so I took them off and wandered barefoot for at least an hour. I
know, so classy; but I’m telling you, I didn’t want to miss out on wearing
those shoes for the next two days while they dried out. They’re just too comfy.
Good thing, too, because today my second pair of shoes are soaked and drying
out.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Boy started collecting stamps in his Kidcot
Passport ($10 at any gift shop in Epcot's International Showcase) from each country in the showcase. He has all five from the left side:
Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, and the USA in the middle. We’ll collect
the other five on Thursday. We rode Mission: Space and have decided that Extra
Magic Hours (for WDW hotel guests only) are wonderful. No lines to speak
of. We only waited ten minutes for Mission: Space and we walked onto Spaceship
Earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">My bed is going to be well used tonight! I have it
to myself. We have two beds in our room and where The Captain and I have a king
size bed at home, we have to share a full-size here. (I don't know how this escaped me when we were planning the trip.) So we’ve been swapping.
Every third night we get to sleep alone, the other two we have to share. I
don’t mind sharing with The Captain. We’ve been doing that for a very long
time; however, sharing with The Boy is a special treat… he takes his half out
of the middle – and he likes to cuddle. The only thing I’m used to cuddling
with is my body pillow. The Captain runs too hot to snuggle even in winter so
this Florida heat isn’t at all conducive to sharing -- even with the a/c and ceiling fan running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"><b><i>Day 7 – Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">We started the day arriving at Animal Kingdom at 9:00.
We wandered through the park with Africa as our first destination. We had an
early lunch reservation at the Tusker House with Donald Duck, Daisy, Goofy, and
Mickey. We wandered around Africa reliving memories from The Captain’s days
living and flying hot air balloons in Kenya. Disney got the architecture spot
on. A little Muslim influence, a little Indian influence, a little native
influence. And all in need of maintenance. The Florida humidity certainly helped the overall atmosphere,
especially when thinking about the time we spent in Lamu on the Indian Ocean. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvShU271VMVXLz_vc0U19MLnkdUP-ubGn2DR43SxBvvg1_acPM9sxVlOKnK9qfMfCUYUebOOXOt7Huk973eCUvptRs6ciYmCNn5SWWQh1VweFDgOPERP2S57ukGfzStB6rz_t_qzGbzqH-/s1600/P1010148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvShU271VMVXLz_vc0U19MLnkdUP-ubGn2DR43SxBvvg1_acPM9sxVlOKnK9qfMfCUYUebOOXOt7Huk973eCUvptRs6ciYmCNn5SWWQh1VweFDgOPERP2S57ukGfzStB6rz_t_qzGbzqH-/s640/P1010148.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgu3UgJJackUFsr3zhsFXpROM8084I_pjCoBNH-qc9aHUa7Kd7CwgS0TRTj6O-5g49_G1S5NmqvUJX7siEyUv8_iLyPvYQ8fC_2CML8DagvxejgUbVizFroGIu1BnVU238avvZkoKoEahg/s1600/IMG_0594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgu3UgJJackUFsr3zhsFXpROM8084I_pjCoBNH-qc9aHUa7Kd7CwgS0TRTj6O-5g49_G1S5NmqvUJX7siEyUv8_iLyPvYQ8fC_2CML8DagvxejgUbVizFroGIu1BnVU238avvZkoKoEahg/s400/IMG_0594.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">We toured the Savannah in a large bouncy vehicle looking at the animals. There was a beautiful lion and lioness lounging, which is what lions do best. In so many pictures we took in Kenya the lions are either eating or sleeping – mostly sleeping. While walking through the aviary, we saw Weavers and their nests. The Captain used to know all the native birds so he could point them out to the wageni (Swahili for visitor) on his balloon flights. However, he's been back in the States for fifteen years so he was grateful for the bird identification cards the park provided. There were a bunch elbeejays in there... I'll tell you about them another time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">After heading over to Asia to try to get on
Expedition Everest and realizing that The Boy was just too tired to wait that
long, the family headed back to Africa to catch “The Festival of the Lion
King,” a live stage performance. The sign for the show is in Africa but the theater is
actually in the section of the park called Camp Minnie Mickey, a fair distance
where little tired feet and bodies are concerned. However, we all made it and
were rewarded with a fairly spectacular show with lots of high energy,
acrobatics, and great music. The Boy had one more character signing line in him
and he didn’t have Balou’s autograph and picture from this trip yet so we
waited a short time to get our photo taken with Balou and King Louie
from The Jungle Book. Apparently King Louie doesn’t sign autographs because,
well, his arms are too long for the poor person inside to make it work without destroying
the ruse or freaking out some poor child when a human hand pokes out of the
monkey arm. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">After that we were heading back to the park entrance
to go home when we were caught in a pretty significant downpour and had to stop
and pull out our ponchos, which, in the end, didn’t help us much.
When we got back to the room, I had to change all of my clothes, even my
delicates. The term “soaked to the skin” is apropos. That’s the second time
this week my shoes have been sloshy, which is a really icky feeling to me. I
wish my Teva’s were more comfortable; then I wouldn’t care if my feet got wet.
That or that my Clarks flip flops had a strap across the back (making them
sandals) so I can wear them for long periods without getting shin
splints. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0XQF2MdzaIDM812jv_HM9naoN51nL0cV58OYvEcdJBAlXKTdlw_jOy2ITuYxPtzFTGVBNf9b6drw9oNID793KWRanHfmZv7nuIANmHtnhGic9nG_P6uWrQEJIGwKeVN3ii9l2VsQnX5Q/s1600/P1010161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0XQF2MdzaIDM812jv_HM9naoN51nL0cV58OYvEcdJBAlXKTdlw_jOy2ITuYxPtzFTGVBNf9b6drw9oNID793KWRanHfmZv7nuIANmHtnhGic9nG_P6uWrQEJIGwKeVN3ii9l2VsQnX5Q/s320/P1010161.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">We’re halfway through our trip and my feet are
tired. The Boy has blisters that we are keeping track of and treating as kindly
as possible. He only complains about them when he’s tired.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">After dinner tonight at the Animal Kingdom Lodge’s
Boma Restaurant, we came back to the hotel and headed for the pool. The Boy
fell asleep quickly and we have a relaxing morning planned.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><b><i>Day 8 – Poor Guy!</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Captain and The Boy headed out for Typhoon
Lagoon water park this morning. They called to say there was virtually no one
in the park and had gone on all the slides since there was no waiting.
They finished the afternoon by completing all the slides at the other water
park, Blizzard Beach. The general consensus is that the slides are better at
Blizzard Beach but the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon is the bomb. I agree about
the wave pools but didn’t do enough slides at either park to make an educated
decision.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNG90wFvYhkwAtnVsF7kFdeSuPSdmZP21mIoxBP_pqfpK7pMGsQadkQ6SIP5YoWNztuQiSPiOK9T5CXbH57vZLLdtenmnAvUCUc-_Dw4QtOBksZl8Y61bAsTb0p64wGhIiK865vJe0Mf9/s1600/P6070169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNG90wFvYhkwAtnVsF7kFdeSuPSdmZP21mIoxBP_pqfpK7pMGsQadkQ6SIP5YoWNztuQiSPiOK9T5CXbH57vZLLdtenmnAvUCUc-_Dw4QtOBksZl8Y61bAsTb0p64wGhIiK865vJe0Mf9/s400/P6070169.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">My Glowing Berry Martini -- or what's left of it!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">As per all of our experiences at Epcot this year, it was raining – hard. Dinner was at Le Cellier in the
International Showcase’s Canada. We all enjoyed an excellent meal. The Captain
had a beer flight of three Canadian beers, my mom enjoyed a flight of three
Canadian wines, and I got the martini flight. Of the four different steaks we
ordered, we decided that the New York strip and the filet were the best. The
kitchen was very willing to work with The Boy’s requests. At ten, he’s an adult
on the Disney Dining Plan and has a healthy appetite and a bit more
sophisticated palate, more than the little ones their kids menu targets at least. He
enjoyed a modified soft shell crab appetizer and the mac and cheese with
mascarpone from the adult sides menu. It was more than plenty of food; both
were rich and the portions were generous. There was so much to choose from on
the dessert menu. The Captain and my mom both chose the maple crème brulee. The Boy chose the chocolate trio, which was
excellent. Dad had cheesecake gelato, which was part of a more complex dessert
but more than he wanted after steak and potatoes. I had the white chocolate
cheesecake with shortbread crust. Finishing it wasn’t an option. Before dessert
arrived, I ate less than half of my 12 oz NY Strip and was already full from my
cocktails.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMMghuvQ0-aXb69f7YACmEfcwF3LaTDs7I974nsJhY1ylyNTjrroyXjyTUA1I1sV2k3xUwj4cIrbyj4rz3lwKYl-PZb8zkkIrzxMrvy6vRu8Fah9_ytAdqeRI8p1QyU5K1XOnxobLYCCH/s1600/P6070181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLMMghuvQ0-aXb69f7YACmEfcwF3LaTDs7I974nsJhY1ylyNTjrroyXjyTUA1I1sV2k3xUwj4cIrbyj4rz3lwKYl-PZb8zkkIrzxMrvy6vRu8Fah9_ytAdqeRI8p1QyU5K1XOnxobLYCCH/s640/P6070181.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Post-dinner walk through Epcot's France... <br />
In the rain but with happy faces -- due in part to our shoes (I'm a slow learner).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">We were all grateful for the walk through Canada,
England, France, Morocco, and Japan where The Boy finished his Kidcot Passport.
Our evening was complete with the fireworks show over the lake. Gorgeous. It
was especially beautiful with the Japanese arch in silhouette. The rain had cleared up by then.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Before dinner The Boy was complaining of a tummy
ache, which we decided was probably because he was hungry. As dinner went well
and he was feeling better, we finished the evening at Epcot. Just after
midnight things took a turn for the worse. He spent the next three hours
throwing up. Poor guy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-71493009191878872252012-06-16T18:39:00.001-07:002012-06-16T18:46:16.840-07:00The Wonderful World of Disney<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvuhTspHuLngQY8WQny4k1ABqk2yJzLg_0IBCX1ercZ2C6U5y-B3b5t_oBkAyxCzAXts-uGrev-MmfB-S2sAoeitXANCcFrW4m3S1-a4FSqsFUGvEW8ZrMJ5Ulcec-j8VBDFGwT9hB9-1g/s1600/P6030051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvuhTspHuLngQY8WQny4k1ABqk2yJzLg_0IBCX1ercZ2C6U5y-B3b5t_oBkAyxCzAXts-uGrev-MmfB-S2sAoeitXANCcFrW4m3S1-a4FSqsFUGvEW8ZrMJ5Ulcec-j8VBDFGwT9hB9-1g/s640/P6030051.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boy and me at Disney's Blizzard Beach in the wave pool</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;"><b>Day 1 -- All
Roads Lead to Disney</b><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Our latest Disney adventure began this morning at
zero-three-thirty (that’s 3:30 AM to non-maritime folks). The Captain sprang
out of bed as he always does. His work schedule is such that he can be called
to the helm at any given time of day or, as often as not, night. So getting up
early and sleeping where and when he can is no biggie. I, on the other hand,
found out long, long ago that I am not a morning person. Another thing I know
about myself is that a shower does more to wake me up and get me going than
caffeine. So not only is it 03:30 but I had my shower at 21:00 (9:00 PM) and
wasn’t able to go to sleep until after 23:30 (11:30 PM). Therefore, I’m working
on about four hours rest. Ugh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The house is clean (okay, okay, it’s straightened up
and I swept and vacuumed but, to be fair, it wasn’t all that dirty to begin
with). We had our clothes laid out before bed. The luggage is packed. The cats are
outside. All we have to do is brush our teeth, make our beds, and go. My
brother-in-law picks us up and we drive to the airport where we arrive in
record time. There are minimal lines at security. Our wait flies by. The layover
in Albuquerque is almost non-existent but gives us time to grab a sandwich for
the next flight and board the plane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Just about the time I get up to use the loo, the
Fasten Seatbelts sign goes on and I have to sit down. So I need to use the
facilities and I can’t because the plane is being jostled around like a cat
toy. No, I’m not uncomfortable… Go ahead. Tickle me. I can take it. The last
time I was this uncomfortable on a plane was on a red-eye between Paris and
Nairobi on my way to meet The Captain when a young French couple curled up
around each other and slept most of the eight-hour trip. I was at the window.
Yes, I could have awakened them and taken care of myself but I’d rather suffer
then bitch about it later and call them a silly name like The French Pretzel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">What is keeping me distracted are thoughts of the
warm, sticky weather that awaits us, settling into the hotel, finding my
parents who have been visiting friends on the east coast for two weeks, and
dinner, our first of five character meals scheduled over the next twelve days.
This one should be a kick. It is at the Grand Floridian Hotel and hosted by
Cinderella and her Wicked Stepsisters. I understand that Cinderella’s
Stepmother is known for trying to set up the gentlemen diners with her
daughters. It’s a good thing The Captain, The Boy, and my dad have a good sense
of humor – and are comfortable with their masculinity! Later in the week we
have dinner scheduled at the Castle and the theme is more princess than pirate.
Hey! It’s my vacation too!! </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Right now I’m just begging for the pilot to turn off
that dad-gum light!!! Wish me luck.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">(By the way, dinner at the Grand Floridian hotel was
great. The food was really good and we got to meet Cinderella, Prince Charming,
Anastasia, Drizella, and Lady Tremaine. The hotel was beautiful, had live
orchestra and piano music in the lobby, and some great shops.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><b><i>Day 2 – A Wee Bit of Rain</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Due to the Gay Pride celebration being scheduled at
the Magic Kingdom today, we decided to spend the day at Epcot to avoid the
numbers of people. It started out as a lovely day – until skies opened and it
poured down on us for HOURS; I’m not exaggerating. I haven’t seen rain like
that since we lived in the Philippines. We were prepared for it to rain. We had
our ponchos with us. We put them on right away expecting to put them back into
our pack within a half an hour. But, no, we have finally retreated to our hotel
after six hours of unrelenting heavy rain. Our shoes and socks are sodden. I’m
wondering how many days it will take to dry them out and am grateful I had the
foresight to bring five pairs of shoes. The Captain isn’t laughing at me now. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">It isn’t supposed to dry out until 10:00 tonight. We
have to be back at Epcot by 7:00 for dinner at The Land’s Garden Grill. At
least that’s inside and not too far from the entrance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><b><i>Day 3 – Hollywood Studios Star Wars Weekend</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Oh, The Boy was in heaven. It was ten year old Star
Wars geek nirvana. He got to have a light saber duel with Darth Maul. He
collected more character signatures than you can shake a stick at. He convinced
his dear Mama to go on the Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Roller Coaster (he
didn’t have to try very hard; I love roller coasters). We feasted on comfort
food at the 50s Prime Time Diner. It was a good day. And it didn’t rain even a
little.</span></div>
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<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wFjXqm6oc4GvbRIjCOE9AarLIEICVPh-_LvKWqEwSTwOwXw-ucS56k4JceSo50KLxcYl04aVEievLUMW89QUpHB3JhYaNOBJ24qbwg5I62VnQDFT0ycyqXEiqRiVOCfauwYfTKd3wzS4/s1600/P6040053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7wFjXqm6oc4GvbRIjCOE9AarLIEICVPh-_LvKWqEwSTwOwXw-ucS56k4JceSo50KLxcYl04aVEievLUMW89QUpHB3JhYaNOBJ24qbwg5I62VnQDFT0ycyqXEiqRiVOCfauwYfTKd3wzS4/s640/P6040053.JPG" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, The Boy, The Captain, and Mickey!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><b><i>Day 4 – Water Slides and Old Friends</i></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Today we spent a couple of hours in the morning at
Blizzard Beach then went to a BBQ at the home of my dad’s old Army Lieutenant in Vietnam War (now a retired general) and his wife and family. After a full day of fun, we
just couldn’t stop. On to the Magic Kingdom for the evening! Pirates of the
Caribbean and Jungle Cruise were all we could fit in before the Electrical
Light Parade (which is The Captain’s favorite), the light show on the Castle,
and the fireworks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I have to give a bit of info about the light show on
the Castle prior to the fireworks. It was introduced stating that we would be
viewing photos of guests taken that day at the park. My first thought was that
I was not the least bit interested in looking at photos of strangers. However,
in typical Disney fashion, it wasn’t just photos. They transformed the Castle
colors, textures, even shape with lights and lasers. I didn’t dare look away
for fear of missing something spectacular. The transformations continued for
ten minutes or so before the fireworks. Well worth the wait.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-54929839828132077822012-05-29T16:20:00.001-07:002012-05-29T16:20:42.137-07:00Cub Scouts<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Since his birth, I have had a terrible time trying
to light a fire under The Boy’s little rump. He just doesn’t get excited about </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"> -- other than video games and
watching movies. Then at the beginning of 2</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><sup>nd</sup></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"> grade we found Cub
Scouts. He loves it. He enjoys going to the meetings, fulfilling his
Requirements, attending the monthly evening family events, the overnights, the
camping trips, Rocket Day, the Pinewood Derby, Bobby Crocker, even the days we
walk a neighborhood hanging pamphlets on front doors.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Last weekend we went to Bridging. For those of you
who are unfamiliar with Cub Scouts that is the last family meeting before
summer break when the Tigers become Wolves, the Wolves become Bears, and the
Bears become Webelo 1s. I was excited because I thought everyone from The Boy’s
den would be crossing the bridge too but soon realized that since they are
already Webelo 1s that there is no Bridging to Webelo 2. The next Bridging for
them will be to Boy Scouts next February at the Blue and Gold Dinner. Mama is
not ready for this. This means her boy is closer to middle school. Closer to
high school! Closer to driving!! Closer to voting!!! Closer to college!!!!
Closer to gone!!!!! (get a grip, mama.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8NGcU20iXPA8x7zAJmIEFyHzwSkalsY5rjdj40Z6fRnwQXCJAmgdOIg-X0OyteTUoVRINJJhjDMWl6IFO8qtK4lR-NaA1J_3ApSQbBAb2IVeXxsyXkYvhpVumWVNsaJncWkbt0YYY8-n/s1600/P5190050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis8NGcU20iXPA8x7zAJmIEFyHzwSkalsY5rjdj40Z6fRnwQXCJAmgdOIg-X0OyteTUoVRINJJhjDMWl6IFO8qtK4lR-NaA1J_3ApSQbBAb2IVeXxsyXkYvhpVumWVNsaJncWkbt0YYY8-n/s640/P5190050.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boy receiving his badges and pins at Camp Coombs in Napa, May 2012.<br />(Please notice the wine barrel stave fire poker on the rock wall just left of front and center. <br />That's how prevalent they are around here.)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">After a really good potluck dinner (I know; that should be an oxymoron but it was good!) everyone was seated around the campfire
and the meeting portion of the evening was underway. The next thing I knew, my
name was called and I was asked to come forward to be recognized for being a
Committee Member and the Scouting With Santa Fundraiser Chair. Immediately
after, The Captain was asked to come forward for his role as Committee Member
and Camping/Overnight Chair… and as being in charge of Rocket Day (which we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">didn’t</i> know, hmmm). Several others soon
joined us. Now, we knew we held these positions -- well, except for The
Captain’s Rocket Day Leader -- what we weren’t expecting was the recognition.
I’m not a shy person, ask anyone who knows me; however, I was taken aback and
so was The Captain, who not only doesn’t expect but doesn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">want</i> any recognition. We thought our
participation was no more than what others do. Apparently, we thought wrong. It
was nice. I’ll be the first to admit that I like applause. And I think that is
another thing that The Boy likes about Cub Scouts because they are awarded
their badges and pins in front of the entire Pack and all the parents. Applause
is good for the ego no matter how old you are.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">In the car one afternoon while running errands, The Boy and I were talking about who his role models are and immediately after mentioning several family members, he talked about his Cub Scout Den Leaders, then his teachers and one lady from church. I think that says bunches about his experience. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Cub Scouts has been amazing for our entire family,
not just The Boy. We have made friends with families we wouldn’t have otherwise
met. We have also become closer with people we already knew through The Boy’s
school. At Bridging, we realized that in less than a year our little Cubby will
be moving on to Boy Scouts. That means we’ll miss some of those wonderful
people but it’s nice to know there are still good families in this big, scary
world and we look forward to meeting some more of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">By the way, I have yet another pile of laundry that
needs folding among other tidbits around the house and someone is coming over
in half an hour. Gotta run!<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-46936021897572197422012-05-18T11:48:00.000-07:002012-05-18T11:48:20.972-07:00Food Transgressions<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTquMxkYhNZw8xUzBtddkKC3AejzhylkYUyp774AxlFEYZmI_OVSxIQ-LvfnGu1v4kok-wlWI3unrqRYDn4l8JNmyGNwyTSn0J-PL-BZAokH-bzM19mRpU5DhSEwnGHFhvl-RcAVO8A4B/s1600/P5180046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTquMxkYhNZw8xUzBtddkKC3AejzhylkYUyp774AxlFEYZmI_OVSxIQ-LvfnGu1v4kok-wlWI3unrqRYDn4l8JNmyGNwyTSn0J-PL-BZAokH-bzM19mRpU5DhSEwnGHFhvl-RcAVO8A4B/s400/P5180046.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Homemade Ranch and Vinaigrette</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Last weekend was a bit out of control in regard to
food. It started Thursday with The Captain’s from-scratch brownies, which I’ve
heard several people describe erotically. One friend whose husband is a pastry
chef says they’re the best brownies she’s ever eaten. Needless to say, I ate
one; yes, only one because the rest were designated for a Scout function and a
fishing trip. Then on Friday my dear cousin and her family were driving up
unexpectedly from the South Bay Area and we were all invited for pizza at my
aunt and uncle’s, after which they offered low fat ice cream. I had two slices
of pizza and about a third of a cup of ice cream and salad (not necessarily in
that order).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The next morning I found myself alone with my
refrigerator and the leftovers of a crazy good coconut chicken curry and
basmati rice I had made two nights before. I ate the rice telling myself I’d
have just one small bowl, which turned into two… with a bit of butter on
each. You cannot have rice without butter. Period.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">On the way home from the overnight Scouting event,
The Captain stopped at Chipotle for a salad and brought one home for me as well.
I usually order the vegetarian version because I don’t need the meat and its calories and saturated fat plus I like
their pinto beans; besides the vegetarian one comes with guacamole so I don’t
have to pay an extra $1.90 for it. However, The Captain remembered me ordering
the barbacoa once so that’s what he brought home. I’m not complaining, mind
you. He couldn’t get a hold of me and could have, thus, brought me nothing. I
was grateful for the salad. And, as always, I can only eat half of their food
because there’s so much on the plate. So, add half a barbacoa salad with brown
rice, pinto beans, cheese, and lots of salsa... but no guac.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">That afternoon our neighbor came down and invited us
to their house for dinner and would we bring a salad and bread? No problem. I
make a great salad (my brother is shaking his head and murmuring, "there she goes again complimenting her own cooking"). Loads of veggies: mixed greens, fresh herbs, tomatoes,
cucumber, red bell pepper, avocado, plus feta, nuts or seeds, dried
fruit… and this time I forsook my homemade vinaigrette for homemade ranch
dressing (recipes below). To my credit (thank you, thank you very much), I used
nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream -- but full-fat mayo. Then all the
dressing wouldn’t fit into the container I wanted to use so I put the rest in a
wee bowl with a bit more from the container. We used it as dip for the large
bag of Kettle chips we had purchased for the fishing trip, which had
subsequently been canceled due to high winds and the salmon were no longer
biting. The guide said he didn’t feel right about taking our money (nice,
right?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Then there’s the issue of the bread. The Captain and I went to
Whole Foods but being a Saturday of a busy tourist weekend, it was slim
pickins’. So we tried Trader Joe’s, which is almost next door. However, we had
to stop at Pete’s Coffee on the way for a decaf iced latte (no sweetener but
probably whole milk because I forgot to ask for something lighter). Nothing at
TJ’s was any too inspiring either. Next and last, we went to our neighborhood
gourmet grocery, <a href="http://vallergas.com/index.html" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Vallerga’s</span></a>. We should have gone there first and had intended to but our car
just drove itself over to get real in the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UFc1pr2yUU" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">Whole Foods parking lot</span></a>.</span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> Sure enough, Vallerga’s had exactly what we were
looking for. So The Captain took it home and made garlic bread -- with a whole
stick of butter, many cloves of garlic, and some rosemary from the garden. I
ate two pieces. Also for dinner I had a few bites of lamb, a slice of chicken
breast, salad, three grilled asparagus spears, and a dozen artichoke leaves
Rutherford Grill style with aioli... plus a half a cup of chocolate ice cream,
not just a few of those potato chips, cucumbers, and dip, and a couple of Tecates… (over
the course of about four hours – not all at one sitting, people.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I am absolutely positive there were the odd leftover brownie, piece of dark chocolate, trail mix, handful of walnuts, and other tidbits mixed in over the weekend but who can remember all that??? Thus
ended my food transgressions. I am back to sanity. However, I’ve gained two
pounds for my efforts. grrr. On the upside, my laundry is done… but my kitchen
floor is becoming its own ecosystem. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Nice segue to --</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Times; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Futura;">Homemade Garlic Ranch Dressing<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">I really dislike store-bought salad dressings. There are very few that don't have that weird, acrid flavor, especially bottled Ranch and Blue Cheese dressings. I haven't purchased it for at least ten years because I swear I can taste the preservatives -- and they don't taste good! For many years I made the powdered Ranch which was better but then I found a recipe that had ingredients I could pronounce. They were all real food. I feel much better about being able to control what goes into our bodies and it is soooo much tastier! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">The original recipe is from Barefoot Bloggers but has been adapted to our taste.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ingredients are simple and staples in many pantries.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZw9ZMyfV-dOTIjokrgRb3fVITvpannfDM52mPWQ7mpUHwGqWANvRTsk_mHaVJVyc4EFl0Mj-IizisZ11nwVr2JeKlOJj7KDEotVKbZsaJzkVj5erq0b83IhyphenhyphenZxvvhUV6uuuDsapKSkru/s1600/P5180043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZw9ZMyfV-dOTIjokrgRb3fVITvpannfDM52mPWQ7mpUHwGqWANvRTsk_mHaVJVyc4EFl0Mj-IizisZ11nwVr2JeKlOJj7KDEotVKbZsaJzkVj5erq0b83IhyphenhyphenZxvvhUV6uuuDsapKSkru/s640/P5180043.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just blitz them all together and voila!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">3/4 cup mayonnaise (you
can use light mayo) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">3/4 cup nonfat plain Greek
yogurt (you can use light or regular sour cream) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 Tbsp olive oil <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 Tbsp lemon juice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"> 1/4 to 1 cup buttermilk
(I use powdered because we don’t use that much but plain milk also works) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 small bunch fresh chives,
roughly chopped <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">a generous handful fresh Italian parsley, no stems<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"> 1 Tbsp fresh thyme <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 cloves garlic<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"> 1/2 tsp sea salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"> 1/4 tsp freshly ground
black pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Place all ingredients with 1/4 cup of the buttermilk
in a food processor or blender and do several long pulses. Add more buttermilk
if you like it thinner (we don't). Store in an air-tight jar in the fridge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">According to the Barefoot Bloggers, leftovers will
keep 2 to 3 weeks. Ours won’t last that long… because it gets eaten! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">If you don’t love garlic, cut back to one small clove or
skip it. Other herbs that I’m going to try are: tarragon, lemon thyme, basil,
and a little rosemary. Not all at once. I’ve chosen those herbs because we have
them growing in the garden with the chives and Italian parsley. I’d love to
hear your ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Futura;">Homemade Vinaigrette<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">This is my adaptation of the classic French vinaigrette my friend taught me to make many, many years ago after her year in France as an exchange student. The olive oil to vinegar ratio is way off compared to the original, which is four to one, but I like this more acidic, less oily version.</span></div>
<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pantry staples that can whipped up for a quick, delicious dressing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">½ cup olive oil</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1/3 cup champagne or red wine vinegar (or your
favorite flavored vinegar)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 Tbsp Dijon mustard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 tsp sea salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">½ tsp freshly ground black pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">In a mason jar or other container with a tight seal, combine vinegar, Dijon mustard, sea salt and pepper. Cover and shake well to
combine. Add olive oil. Cover tightly and shake vigorously for at least one
minute. Dressing can also be made using a food processor or blender using the
same method above except the olive oil should be drizzled in slowly while the
machine is running. Either by hand or machine, the dressing should completely
combine and won’t “break” (separate). Store at room temperature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Tip: If you choose to go by the shaken-by-hand
method, it is helpful to put a dishtowel over the jar lid to prevent any
potential leaks from becoming messy spills. (I speak from experience…)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">A tablespoon of fresh herbs, shallots, and/or 1
teaspoon of garlic can be added to the vinegar mixture prior to adding the
olive oil if you like. However, with that addition, the vinaigrette must either
be completely used immediately or stored in the fridge. The olive oil gets
really thick in the fridge and has to come to room temperature before it can be
used. I, personally, can’t think that far in advance so I leave this step out
unless it’s a special occasion. I’m more likely to add the herbs or shallots
directly into the salad greens. Like the garlic idea but don’t want to put it
in your dressing? Rub the cut end of a clove around the bowl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Comments, please. Enjoy! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-16307967332036453712012-05-08T11:22:00.000-07:002012-05-08T11:22:07.880-07:00Living in the Napa Valley Part II<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj77tBPSRBwo9vb_QMQ07TYYRRgswLhUliyTPlk_RFgwG_TIQnYgyb-KtqiZoz-SLpGmQOAJeMhUyTdpbdmIHVKMe6HFu4zF_bPfxiR3Vaexc8tPQMqd36r1yL8VjPYJkKASygYFrAdN_ul/s1600/Sunface+handbag+WC_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj77tBPSRBwo9vb_QMQ07TYYRRgswLhUliyTPlk_RFgwG_TIQnYgyb-KtqiZoz-SLpGmQOAJeMhUyTdpbdmIHVKMe6HFu4zF_bPfxiR3Vaexc8tPQMqd36r1yL8VjPYJkKASygYFrAdN_ul/s320/Sunface+handbag+WC_edited-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunface Large Bag and Cat Face Pillow (below) at ByLorna.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Dj-0pUUFfadvDni8TqudT3Yi0N1c-Q0Z5keGtgJ0hZX7ocMvgxZiU6oRJ_aYQGkgCJrvLDUI8CbDKoj0zvTIN3idPI0VQH6nQgJYSkkbTY8msr7VFWpKfslGtQTbWRF2q7QbHQYlSC3j/s1600/catface+pillow+WC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Dj-0pUUFfadvDni8TqudT3Yi0N1c-Q0Z5keGtgJ0hZX7ocMvgxZiU6oRJ_aYQGkgCJrvLDUI8CbDKoj0zvTIN3idPI0VQH6nQgJYSkkbTY8msr7VFWpKfslGtQTbWRF2q7QbHQYlSC3j/s320/catface+pillow+WC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">PART II</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">As for galleries and boutique shopping, well, we
have a lot of that too. Not that I, personally, know much about it. You’ll find
me at the factory stores and Target. Most of the shopping in Napa Valley is
about the tourists, not the locals. My sister-in-law is a local<b> </b><a href="http://myworld.ebay.com/designsbylorna/?_trksid=p4340.l2559" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">jewelry</span></b></a> and <a href="http://bylorna.com/" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">hand painted clothing designer</span></b></a>. You’ll find her artistry at several galleries and boutiques
from Calistoga down to Napa.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSv1kdA4WYK4TWi8OqJJKiN4CG3sGpXXlUdzr9zKBa6Y8HV-yCG74ML2BUGPHa5bhzL1y-n5frLjwlN_mu5J14weWEule8JQSZubESB_LZQMGe4nC0VN5LNfN6F3cjzwqmAqQso2EhST8b/s1600/Abloom+in+plum+WC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSv1kdA4WYK4TWi8OqJJKiN4CG3sGpXXlUdzr9zKBa6Y8HV-yCG74ML2BUGPHa5bhzL1y-n5frLjwlN_mu5J14weWEule8JQSZubESB_LZQMGe4nC0VN5LNfN6F3cjzwqmAqQso2EhST8b/s320/Abloom+in+plum+WC.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Abloom in Plum" Bracelet by Fringe Magic on eBay.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKuEtHcKxlYVqJN1gwngpKidz54owe3JqQJK3qSBU4ik-vAaq92PwI5KAz8mR5M0Y57IWXnpY0vVN-_GzG3MRU6DU-HtTP4HuFMI_Y46UO6jQn7zJFT7-b3ZNLsrjlVtAopQErud280wU/s1600/il_fullxfull.259842837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzKuEtHcKxlYVqJN1gwngpKidz54owe3JqQJK3qSBU4ik-vAaq92PwI5KAz8mR5M0Y57IWXnpY0vVN-_GzG3MRU6DU-HtTP4HuFMI_Y46UO6jQn7zJFT7-b3ZNLsrjlVtAopQErud280wU/s400/il_fullxfull.259842837.jpg" width="398" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cold drink barrel or planter by JayCWoodworks on Etsy.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">I know several people who create <b><a href="http://www.etsy.com/people/jaycwoodworks" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">candle holders and coat racks</span></a></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c0504d;"> </span>or<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c0504d;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mundy-Creations/298636733502710" target="_blank"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;">planters and tables</span></b></a> </span>using barrel staves.<b> </b>These items can be purchased on Etsy and Ebay. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">My adult niece builds and paints birdhouses<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #c0504d;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/162500010546163/" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #6fa8dc;"><b>(Mother/Daughter Trunk Show this Saturday featuring Hand Painted Designs By Lorna, Fringe Magic Jewelry and Mundy Creations</b>)</span></a>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZrOR7mQZ_bEZ2tEj7cERAsJ0503IRbksmCSUColAjh9fSPxic4EG4tqP6Ld9T7n0Xq-B7MPzCohBUIWgyBiqr4JTOAGd05a0YpjhSGbJM7Dzx_W0osQvmz7sW3NoJLQkhkBKTgYKtPxy/s1600/Karla's+photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJZrOR7mQZ_bEZ2tEj7cERAsJ0503IRbksmCSUColAjh9fSPxic4EG4tqP6Ld9T7n0Xq-B7MPzCohBUIWgyBiqr4JTOAGd05a0YpjhSGbJM7Dzx_W0osQvmz7sW3NoJLQkhkBKTgYKtPxy/s400/Karla's+photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Custom birthday invitations and party supplies by Ladybug Karla on Etsy.com</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">My friend and
neighbor is a magician with her <span class="Apple-style-span"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/ladybugkarla?ref=si_shop" style="color: #6fa8dc; font-weight: bold;" target="_blank">paper crafts</a><b style="color: #6fa8dc;"> </b>including custom invitations, centerpieces, cupcake cups and toppers, and banners, as well as paper flowers and place cards; most of which have been shipped to her satisfied customers as far away as Atlanta.</span> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">There are so many talented people in our area who get an added
boost in sales because they can honestly say that their product was made in the
Napa Valley. It may be no different than products being made in Idaho or
Tennessee or NYC, but many people are impressed by this addition to a label.
And it makes us aware of the same </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">types of labels when we’re traveling. The
Captain and I find all this ironic because we feel that Napa Valley is simply
another farming community. It just so happens that the crop grown here attracts
the masses and there is a certain associated romance, which even The Captain
used to his advantage while pursuing yours truly. See? Even we jaded locals are susceptible. It does help that it is spectacularly
beautiful here. But when I was a child, we were commonly referred to as
Napkins. This isn’t The Hamptons, people; at least as far as we’re concerned.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Just to make sure you don't get the wrong idea, the vast majority of Napans are
not wealthy. Our homes are modest. Our neighbors and family are like us: tugboat
captains, realtors, teachers, electricians, accountants, lawyers, welders, refinery workers, and
stay-at-home moms. We drive cars that no longer have payments. Our homes do not
come equipped with wine cellars. We have never been to The French Laundry (although, for many, that is a bucket list item). We only go wine tasting when friends from
out of town come to visit. Napans spend our days working, shuttling kids to
activities, attending school, church, and community events, and doing our laundry just like everyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">On that note, it isn’t cheap to live here. Gas
is a lot more expensive than most places (currently $4.25 for the cheap stuff).
We could live in a much larger and newer house by moving just twenty minutes
south on the highway, still in Napa County but outside the Napa Valley. Simply put, our dollar doesn't go as far here. I’m not
trying to run-down where I live. It is famous for a reason. However, it also
has its share of problems, such as no two new buildings anywhere in the city
limits have anything in common. It’s a hodgepodge of whoever-had-enough-money-to-charm-city-council (I'm <i>not</i> saying they take bribes but are simply more enthused about money than consistency of design). The arborists the city
hires have less sense than the trees on which they work. There are too many one way streets and no good reasoning behind them. One of the major arteries <i>into</i> downtown has been modified to direct traffic <i>away</i> from downtown and two new shopping centers were designed with not enough parking even before most of the shops had opened. Our school district has a tough time making ends meet so on top of the perpetual threat of school closures and pink slips, spending their own money for supplies and having waaaay too many kids in their classrooms (up to thirty-six), our teachers have a minimum of seven furlough days during the school year; most still manage to hold their chins up and present a smile. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">And with all that, the
answer to the question I posed in the second paragraph in PART I is: Very. We
are very lucky. Even if it didn’t have gorgeous views, fabulous food, and swanky
boutiques in which to browse, if not buy, the Napa Valley would be my home
because that is where my friends and family – my heart is.</span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-47851524500912671052012-05-03T19:43:00.000-07:002012-05-03T21:03:37.228-07:00Living in the Napa Valley<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">PART I of II</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">I'm starting out this post by apologizing for not having any photos. In our TV cabinet are thousands of photos. Diving in proved to be an exercise in futility and opened a can of worms. One would think that in this 15 cubic foot space I have some hardcore evidence that we do, in fact, reside in the Napa Valley in the form of photos, but no. Not one... save for our wedding photos and who's to say we didn't have a destination wedding? I did try to pirate some off a friend's hot air balloon company website but that didn't work. So, sorry. You'll just have to take me at my word. Here truly begins my post...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Ah! This is my second favorite time of year here in
the Napa Valley – springtime! The hills are still lush and green, just a few
weeks ago the mustard was in full bloom, the vines are now leafing out, and my
chest allergies of fall and winter have switched to sinus allergies (I’m trying to
look on the bright side…). Soon summer will be upon us, those green hills will
turn golden (I prefer that to calling them brown) and the vineyards will be heavy with fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The city of <span style="color: #c0504d;"><a href="http://napavalley.com/" target="_blank">Napa</a></span> is my hometown. I was born and raised here. I live about
eight blocks from my parents who still live in the house I grew up in. My
brother lives down the street from them in the house his wife grew up in. The
Captain, who also spent most of his formative years here, and I have many more
family members, four generations worth, who live in less than a three mile
radius of us. How lucky are we?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Most people we meet who are not from NorCal assume
that we own a winery, or that our family does, or that we at least work at one.
So not true. The Captain and I have both worked in the tourist industry; in
fact, that’s how we met. He was flying hot air balloons and I was doing group
sales and marketing for the same small company. However, after years of working
weekends, the schmoozing, and dealing with local ballooning politics, we both
got out – and have stayed out. I’ve since been offered jobs at boutique hotels
and spas by friends, which I have respectfully declined because I don’t want to
put in the odd hours, schmoozing, and tours and wine tastings on my own time
that really don’t interest me. Selfish? Yes, but that life style doesn't fit the needs of my family. Now, I love driving up valley
through the tiny towns of Yountville, Oakville, Rutherford, St. Helena, and
Calistoga when we’re on our way to the Sonoma Coast or The Captain’s sister’s
in Humboldt County. The scenery is breathtaking year round, it never gets boring, but the wineries and
wine aren’t what interest me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Beside my family -- it’s the food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Over the years traveling outside our little valley,
The Captain and I have realized how incredibly picky we are where restaurants
are concerned; it took us a while to figure out why. To be frank, even the
dives in Napa Valley have to be remarkable – even if it’s just remarkably cheap
(like one of our favorite hole in the wall <span style="color: #c0504d;"><a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/taqueria-rosita-napa" target="_blank">Mexican food joints</a></span>). When <span style="color: #c0504d;"><a href="http://www.frenchlaundry.com/" target="_blank">The French Laundry</a></span> is ten
minutes from our front door, The Boy’s <span style="color: #c0504d;"><a href="http://napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/food-and-cooking/article_3af1009a-9002-11e1-8468-0019bb2963f4.html" target="_blank">Cub Scout Den Leader</a></span> is a James Beard Award winning chef and
teacher at the <span style="color: #c0504d;"><a href="http://www.ciachef.edu/california/" target="_blank">Culinary Institute of America’s Greystone</a></span> campus in St. Helena, there are more
amazing restaurants per capita than just about anywhere in the world, we have
to lower our standards when we leave home. In a word, we’re spoiled – and,
shall we say, big-boned… Yes, let's go with that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">It doesn’t help that we both love food. We love to
cook. We love to eat. We watch the Cooking Channel and the Food Network (The
Boy loves Cupcake Wars and Chopped, which just cracks me up). We subscribe to
two culinary magazines – and devour them cover-to-cover. The Captain’s father
published a cookbook in the 70s and was no stranger to the garden either, one
sister is a personal chef and caterer, another sister managed a restaurant at
<a href="http://www.silveradoresort.com/?gclid=CPHBlKjU5K8CFSoZQgodN39BFg" target="_blank">Silverado Country Club</a>, her husband is a former restaurateur, and The Captain
himself is fearless in the kitchen. He bakes and decorates all the family
birthday cakes (or dessert in my case since I don’t like cake), he is the master
of the BBQ (charcoal, please, no gas grill for him), he bakes bread that I
could eat an entire loaf of in one sitting, and his homebrewed beer and root beer
are fantastic. Did I mention the ice cream, chicken stock, and spicy
brown-butter chocolate chip cookies? Yeah. I have to fight for kitchen time.
The Captain and his siblings, my brother’s wife, and I all seem to compete,
good naturedly, to bring our best to the table. Living where we do, we have a
lot of inspiration and lot to live up to. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Not to mention a LOT to work off… which is not an
easy task when one thinks exercise is a four-letter word. But that’s another
post.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12pt;">Having lived in the Midwest and Southeast Asia
and spent a vacation in Cabo San Lucas at a house where we shopped and cooked
for ourselves, I know the produce (especially), seafood, and meats we have
available to us in the Napa Valley is also exceptional bringing about the
ability to create great food. Our farmer’s market is located between the (now
closed) Copia Center for Wine, Food, and the Arts opened by Robert and Margrit
Mondavi and the <span style="color: #c0504d;"><a href="http://www.oxbowpublicmarket.com/" target="_blank">Oxbow Public Market</a></span>, which features one of my favorite <a href="http://www.oxbowpublicmarket.com/merchant.php?merchant=28" target="_blank">gourmet pizza places</a> with
the best roasted veggies I’ve ever tasted and Ritual, the best latte in town,
and, among others, organic ice cream and <span style="color: #c0504d;"><a href="http://themodelbakery.com/" target="_blank">Model Bakery</a></span> made <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more</i>
famous by the Food Network. It is not uncommon to see chefs in their white
coats at the farmers market or Whole Foods picking out their own produce. It
has to be great in this food mecca.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">More next week...</span>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-31375796747546933302012-04-25T10:00:00.002-07:002012-04-25T10:03:01.678-07:00Lemonade Stand<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">A few weeks ago The Boy and I were almost home
from having lunch with The Captain when The Boy asked, yet again, if he could set
up a lemonade stand. Thankfully this time he asked when I didn’t have to say
no. Usually the question is posed when we have less than an hour between
activities or when it’s 55 degrees and windy or I haven’t the ingredients on
hand. However, that day it was lovely. It was a Saturday. I had the
ingredients. I got to say YES!!! I love saying yes.</span><br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura; font-size: small;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fNSTnZkl73oqPWoDx3gEZmej5HlX9sT2tApITWT4sl6qBv3lotpMI1mBwYc7sTryMzuIdzX8-SgdXS7IiaAP55svN-PWKXP3_JE2BqEdShjbQprXaoBZZsWV4-NjmXH5KWM4XVcj2A02/s1600/IMG_3158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2fNSTnZkl73oqPWoDx3gEZmej5HlX9sT2tApITWT4sl6qBv3lotpMI1mBwYc7sTryMzuIdzX8-SgdXS7IiaAP55svN-PWKXP3_JE2BqEdShjbQprXaoBZZsWV4-NjmXH5KWM4XVcj2A02/s640/IMG_3158.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Boy mugging for the camera. He's just so cute. No, I am <i>not</i> biased.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura; font-size: small;">So The Boy clambered out of the car, pulled out the
folding table, made a sign that read, “50¢ per cup”, and found the plastic cups
stored in the garage. I made it to the kitchen and dug from the freezer the
quart of my dad’s Meyer lemon juice that he squeezed by hand and began thawing
it and making simple syrup. Next The Boy asked for a tablecloth, “But not one
of your nice ones, Mom.” So I pulled a beloved yellow and blue plaid off a hanger where it lives in the hall closet (it was a wedding gift so I keep
it out of posterity but it has been <i>very</i> well-used over the years. Thanks, Jeff and
Glenna). The Boy took off with it. When I brought the first pitcher of lemonade
out to him, I couldn’t help but smile at his practical, if not quite aesthetically
pleasing, set up. The Boy had placed the cloth on the table but instead of
centering it so that it hung evenly over all sides or, better yet, allowing it
to drape to the ground in front and leaving it open in the back, he let it hang
to the ground in back and had it perfectly even with the front of the table so
that he could masking tape his sign directly onto the table. He
had carefully stored the extra cups under the table… for all his customers to
see. Too funny. I was good and didn’t make suggestions to turn the table or the
cloth. But.It.Was.Very.Hard.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">We don’t live on a terribly busy street; which is not
to say we don’t have traffic from vehicles that don’t live here. That said, we
had more than several cars stop prompting me to consider a potential new
Starbucks location. (Our town of approximately 75,000 inhabitants has seven or
eight Starbucks. What’s one more?) And, unbeknownst to me, The Boy and his
buddies also knocked on doors to drum up business. His school’s librarian lives
down the street and she happily participated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">All in all, two hours, four pitchers of homemade
lemonade, a little walking, a bit of sitting, some assistance from his mama,
and a great attitude awarded The Boy $13 to add to the savings account he opened
the day before. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">So... The Captain has been chairing a garden plant project
at The Boy’s school. Every child potted two vegetable plants last winter, which
were subsequently taken to one of the local high school’s greenhouses to
germinate. This last week marked the actual sale at The Boy’s school of these
little babies, which, eventually, brings me back to a lemonade stand. The Boy,
once again, wanted to sell lemonade. We told him that was a great idea as long
as he was raising money either for his trip to Washington, DC next year with
his school or to donate directly to school and not to plump up his personal
account. He decided to help out Mom and Dad and raise money for his trip. Good
choice. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> This time I had to
make the lemonade in advance instead of a pitcher at a time, so out came the big,
round, orange cooler we use for camping water. Not elegant but it definitely
served its purpose. This go ‘round he cleared $15. He had a
great time and felt like a true participant in the plant sale, as well as
giving himself a vested interest in his trip next year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">So proud. (little tear)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">If I were a good mother I'd find a recipe using honey or other sweetener instead of refined sugar but... I'd also like to try adding mint, lavender, or thyme to the simple syrup; however, I think that would be for a grownup party and gin or vodka may be involved. If you've done this, let me know how it is.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><i>Lemonade</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 cup sugar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 cup water</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 cup lemon juice</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">3 1/2 cups of cold water</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">To make the simple syrup, place the sugar and 1 cup of water in a sauce pan and heat over a medium flame stirring constantly just until the sugar is completely dissolved. Place the lemon juice in a pitcher and add the simple syrup. Give it a stir then add the cold water. Serve over ice.</span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-1639907445608870092012-04-17T19:43:00.000-07:002012-04-17T19:43:36.400-07:00Great-Grandma's Deviled Eggs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79HExb5JGRZ_iqxWvtQmfFvovcaz4xiKElQ0KZ7hs19NcyYsX0hvJeMjiW05hJmqSRFEaIxu2Uj187ryJDaO6fv_Cg-e9yBgaZ-iUeb3nuGKfNl0u5CTaEfte-4DnqseLOKAJ2P9Istd-/s1600/P4080118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg79HExb5JGRZ_iqxWvtQmfFvovcaz4xiKElQ0KZ7hs19NcyYsX0hvJeMjiW05hJmqSRFEaIxu2Uj187ryJDaO6fv_Cg-e9yBgaZ-iUeb3nuGKfNl0u5CTaEfte-4DnqseLOKAJ2P9Istd-/s640/P4080118.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This glass Candlewick platter is the same one my Great-Grandma used. I treasure it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">All my growing up years, even through college
and beyond, my great-grandparents hosted Easter dinner (and Thanksgiving and
Christmas and…), not to mention every Sunday after church. They always served
two meats: either ham or roast beef (or turkey if it was Thanksgiving or
Christmas) and always, always, always fried chicken (well, I don’t actually
remember fried chicken at Thanksgiving and Christmas). As well as, always, always,
always coleslaw, head lettuce and tomato salad, canned green beans and corn,
mashed potatoes with milk gravy, real cornbread (not the sweet kind), and white
bread. They were originally from the Ozarks in southern Missouri and although
they moved to northern California, they didn’t cook like it, which was fine by me!</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">My favorite meals included Grandma’s deviled eggs
as appetizers. The entire family loved them and no matter how many dozen she
made, they were all eaten. I watched her make them so many times, often while
eating canned black olives off my finger tips, but as I got older she let me
help. Grandma never measured, she just eyeballed it. My cousin Karen and I
preferred the eggs without the bits of chopped pickle that everyone else liked
so Grandma made some special, without pickles, just for us. Grandma was sweet
and laughed at our antics as my cousins, brother, and I darted in and out of
their small kitchen. She never complained or asked us to go in the other room.
She patiently waited for her granddaughters, our mothers, to do that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Due to her state of health, we had already gone many
years without her deviled eggs when Grandma finally went to heaven; then one
Easter Sunday I had a craving for those eggs. I decided to see if I could duplicate
them and as the true test, I took them to Easter Dinner at my aunt’s house. It
was unanimously decided that I had recreated the recipe and would I please
write it down since Grandma never had. The problem was I couldn’t because I,
too, had eyeballed it. I’ve tried to write it down as I went along many times
but have always managed to mess it up, knowing I forgot to include the last
addition of mustard or pickle juice. However, now I have a secretary in the
form of The Boy. This year while I was eyeballing it, he was taking notes and
revising those notes as we went along. He loves to help in the kitchen and he
knew this time the most important role he could play was that of recipe
clerk. And he did it well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Boy was also intrigued with my latest addition of whole eggs made into chickies, which was inspired by Pinterest.
You’ll notice that there are only four chickies – because they’re kind of a
pain in the @** to make, let alone eat, but very cute and I’ll do a few again
next year because The Boy loved them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">In the recipe, you’ll notice that I throw everything
into the food processor and then use a pastry bag with a large star tip to fill
the eggs. My Grandma never did this. She didn’t even own either of those items.
A fork to mash and two teaspoons to fill were what she used so if you don’t
have a food processor or pastry bag, don’t fret. I usually cover my
Great-Grandma’s Candlewick platter (in photo) with lettuce leaves or other
greens or a doily; however, this time I placed them directly on the platter,
just like she did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not talented
with a pastry bag and I will never be caught frosting cupcakes with one; the
reason I use it is out of laziness. It is easier to pump the yolk yummy into
the whites then go back and refill those that are a little on the light side
than to try to spoon it in and go back and re-spoon without making a mess – which
I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">am</i> very good at…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">What are your favorite adaptations of devilled eggs?
Dijon mustard, bacon, red onions, scallions, shallots, blue cheese, caviar,
smoked salmon, capers, hot sauce? I'd love to know what your family's deviled egg tradition is.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Futura;">Great-Grandma’s
Deviled Eggs<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">3 dozen boiled eggs, peeled<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">½ cup mayonnaise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">¼ cup yellow mustard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 Tbsp white vinegar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande';">¼ </span><span style="font-family: Futura;">cup sweet pickle juice<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">2 sweet pickles (not the tiny ones), roughly chopped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 tsp sea salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">1 tsp freshly ground black pepper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Fresh Italian Parsley, chopped for garnish, optional<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Have your serving platters ready. You’ll need two
large or several small ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Halve the boiled eggs, wiping the knife clean before
the next cut, and carefully remove the yolks to the bowl of a food processor
and arrange the whites on the platters. Add pickles to food processor and pulse
a few times just to break things up a bit. Add the remaining ingredients to the
bowl and blend until smooth. The pickles will disappear altogether (I still
don’t like them in chunks </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: Futura;">).
Adjust seasoning as desired.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">If using, place the pastry bag fitted with a large star
tip into a pint glass or jar. Using a rubber spatula, scoop/scrape the yolk
mixture into the pastry bag. Squeeze the bag to fill each egg white. Sprinkle
lightly with salt and pepper and garnish, if desired. Otherwise, just grab two
teaspoons from your drawer and go for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">If you're making the chickies, instead of slicing the egg in half, slice off the top quarter to third of the whole egg. Carefully score the inner portion of the cut side of the egg white just big enough to begin scraping out the yolk, which occasionally pops right out but mostly does not. I lost two eggs altogether due to the whites breaking open beyond repair. If this happens, just toss the whole egg, white and all, into the yolk bowl and try again. When you have enough chickies to make you happy, fill the cavities with the yolk mixture all the way up and out the top. Place lid back on top. Make the eyes out of black olives cut in tiny pieces and the beaks out of tiny triangles of carrot (mine happened to be blanched so the color stayed bright; this was purely by accident as I had to snatch a couple from The Captain's stockpot. We often compete for food for our recipes, one of very few downsides to having a husband who cooks). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">If you're making the day prior to serving, place egg whites on a damp
paper towel then place another damp paper towel on top and cover with plastic
wrap. Leave the yolk mixture in the bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap
directly on top of the mixture so it doesn’t oxidize and harden. Refrigerate
whites and yolks. Up to a couple of hours in advance of serving, remove whites
to serving dishes, fill with yolk mixture, and garnish. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">If you’re taking the
eggs with you, placing lettuce leaves under the whites will keep them from
moving around in transit. To cover them with plastic wrap once filled, simply
place toothpicks strategically into four or so yolks around the outside of the
platter and a couple in the middle and tent loosely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-15558656445013969342012-04-10T15:56:00.001-07:002012-04-10T15:56:26.072-07:00Letting Go<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Most of us have lost loved ones, especially
grandparents. I was fortunate to have been close to both my maternal great-grandparents
until their passing when I was in my late 20s and early 30s. I never doubted their
love for me and I certainly hope I never gave them cause to doubt mine. A few
weeks ago my maternal grandfather, my Papa, died. His almost 90 year old heart finally
gave up and he went peacefully in his sleep with his wife by his side. We’ve
had him about three years longer than his cardiologist expected. He was
stubborn, my Papa (runs in the family). My grandmother, mother, father, aunt,
two uncles, and I spent that first morning saying goodbye to him and making the
initial plans and phone calls for his services.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">We ended up having two separate services for Papa.
First was a memorial at his church on a cold, wet, windy day. The parishioners
played piano, set lights, and served lunch. They didn’t complain a bit when we
stayed too long, not wanting to let go of cousins we hadn’t seen since my
great-grandfather passed in 2000 to go back to our respective homes and go
about our lives. Second, and four days later, we had a private burial at the
National Cemetery in our area on a beautiful, sunny day. Because my Papa was a
submariner in WWII in the Pacific and occupied Japan, he was eligible to be
buried there. The US Navy provided two sailors: one played Taps, both folded
the flag into the triangle we’ve all seen presented to the loved ones of the
departed, and the other made the presentation to my uncle who then said a few
words. During Taps, most of us covered our hearts with our hands but another
uncle, my father, and The Captain, all veterans, saluted as we said goodbye.
After each of us placed a rose on his casket, they wheeled Papa from the
pavilion, the last roof he would ever be under, to his final rest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">And we went to lunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">How strange it felt to chat with my cousins and hold
their babies knowing Papa would have loved to have been there with all the
people he held dearest. Of course, during the car ride home with my parents and
The Captain, we discussed our later options and that, as my Nana will be
allowed to be placed with Papa, both my mother and I would be allowed to be
placed with our husbands in that same cemetery. I sincerely hope that it is a
very long time before I have to consider placing my father and mother there,
let alone The Captain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">My Papa was a good man. He was always loving and
strong. It was so hard to see him looking really old. I still picture him the
way he was during my childhood: in his Calistoga Police Officer’s uniform. I
can still hear his greeting, “Hello, Machol” in his sometimes exaggerated
southern Missouri drawl kept alive even though the majority of his life was
spent in California. He called me Stinky; he called us all Stinky. He took us
for rides on his Shetland Pony and ancient tractor. He played his guitar and
sang songs. He could jump straight off the floor and hit his rump with his
feet. He let us use him as a horsey. He lay on the floor with us and ran his
train under the Christmas tree. When I was in college he gave me a
commemorative tin of Oreo’s for Christmas addressed from Papa to Kind because
he knew they were my favorite since I was just old enough to ask for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> “kind.” He fell asleep during
church and on the sofa at family functions. He was very smart. He was
passionate about his politics even though none of the rest of us agreed with
him. He prayed in his deep, rich tones prayers that were honest and humble. He
loved his God and he loved us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">It seems strangely fitting that Papa left us so
close to Easter. We sang Easter songs during his services, which made it harder
to sing them again at church on Palm Sunday, the next day. And I have realized
this week that I am frightened by my Papa’s death because there is no longer
that buffer of a generation (or two) between death and my parents, which brings
me closer to my own mortality… which doesn’t actually frighten me as much – as
long as it occurs after The Boy is well grown. He still needs his Mama and no
one can love him the way I do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdmoVJSo85GG36dsbR21Em6FPdyDE_uLS_a4WBR7SA63NIljYQ4RxPxL-O26JT7ZilP3ho7CbhxqTQHengM3eQCSUao1q-DxNIg3Z0sFaiRSS66QcFTlKVskdHmKn-r12T89oRo6tDbov/s1600/IMG_2007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIdmoVJSo85GG36dsbR21Em6FPdyDE_uLS_a4WBR7SA63NIljYQ4RxPxL-O26JT7ZilP3ho7CbhxqTQHengM3eQCSUao1q-DxNIg3Z0sFaiRSS66QcFTlKVskdHmKn-r12T89oRo6tDbov/s640/IMG_2007.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Papa and The Boy, Easter Sunday 2006<br />The Boy had just cracked a confetti egg on Papa's head</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6IcgfxDhYijVbsfRyf4f016F1utgu7VjqcI59NIR8Z2CCZ0VkjvYOQ_uwfCZQ4RIVVuvEhjBCKSpIzCQT0VSbmMvgL7J0XM9VY6z_Xqqg7fH75PGYjvmLgms6yzt92-qUEIRpFWhNc0Dt/s1600/IMG_2588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6IcgfxDhYijVbsfRyf4f016F1utgu7VjqcI59NIR8Z2CCZ0VkjvYOQ_uwfCZQ4RIVVuvEhjBCKSpIzCQT0VSbmMvgL7J0XM9VY6z_Xqqg7fH75PGYjvmLgms6yzt92-qUEIRpFWhNc0Dt/s640/IMG_2588.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Papa and The Boy, mid-April 2006</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">We lost The Captain’s mother while on our honeymoon.
We had earlier been lamenting how we had to pass her off to his sisters more
than we’d have liked due to it being the week before the wedding and all that
that entails. However, she went home and told her friends how loved she felt
that she was constantly with her children, one or another. She passed peacefully
in her sleep ten days after we wed.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The Captain’s dad passed due to cancer six weeks
before The Boy was born. It was fast and he went with dignity at home with
almost all of his children at his side. We regret The Boy not meeting his
grandpa. I know what that’s like, never having met my paternal grandfather who
my daddy assures me would have adored me (what’s not to love?). The Boy is so
much like The Captain who is, in turn, like his father. The Boy even has his
grandfather’s breathy laugh where he slaps his knee, which I would have sworn
was a learned trait, however, it must be innate because The Captain doesn’t do
that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">This is a depressing post and I’m sorry for that.
However, part of the point of this blog is me organizing things; this time it's my thoughts. I do this better on paper than when things are simply allowed
to wander around unfenced, unleashed in my brain. My point is that we’ve been
through this before but with every person it’s completely different since each
fit in a different place in our hearts, leaves a gap that is never filled
except as a placeholder for a loving memory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I am not ready to let go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-72435293655180486872012-04-02T13:55:00.000-07:002012-04-02T13:55:53.111-07:00Recipe for Shrimp Mosca<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">In the very early 80s an old family friend served Shrimp
Mosca at a dinner party my parents attended. They instantly fell in love with
the dish so she gave my mom the recipe. Now, I’ve lived with this dish in my
life since junior high being served with the shells, legs, and tails still
attached, thus, with the vein still intact. This didn’t really bother me, except
that it was sometimes a source of grit in my food, until I knew what that vein was
and have since always served it with tails only, no veins. However, if you're braver than me, it is really fun to serve the whole shrimp and clean them as you're eating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Something about this dish I’ve often wondered
but had never taken the time to research is the name “Mosca.” After a quick Google
search, I have deduced that this recipe has to have morphed from Mosca’s Restaurant
in New Orleans. Here’s the link for the <a href="http://moscasrestaurant.com/recipes-fresh-seafood.html" target="_blank">original recipe</a>.</span><span style="font-family: Futura;"> Next time we go to NOLA, I am booking reservations
here and ordering this so I can compare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The version my mother still uses calls for
marinating the shrimp for at least a couple of hours or preferably overnight
then baking for twenty minutes. If you choose to read the original recipe,
you’ll notice the shrimp cook for nearly half an hour. It is my personal
opinion that twenty minutes is far too long to cook shrimp. They get tough.
Last time I made this dish, The Captain suggested (because he likes to add his
two bits and he’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">often</i> correct – in
the kitchen – so I don’t mind) that I, (ahem) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">we</i> combine and place the herbs, wine, and garlic in a screaming hot
oven to heat the oil so the shrimp start cooking immediately when we add them.
This worked beautifully. Not only did the preheated oil become infused with the
herbs and garlic, but very little additional oven time was needed before the
shrimp were pink and plump and delectable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The ingredient amounts are deliberately left vague
so it can be suited to your family’s tastes. In fact, the recipe given my mom didn't have amounts either. Where we love strong flavors, you
may not. So if you see an ingredient that you don’t love, scale back on it and
amp up one you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">do</i> love. Don’t drink
wine or don’t want to open a bottle just for a couple of glugs for a recipe?
Skip it. No fresh herbs in the garden or fridge? Use about half the amount of
dried. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">When you’re ready to serve, simply place the baking
dishes on the table within everyone’s reach so they can dip crusty sourdough or
ciabatta bread in the oil right out of the dish. We usually have a green salad
along side and call it dinner. You could skip the bread (or not) and serve rice, couscous, or pasta as a bed for the shrimp instead. That would be tasty. Let me know how it turns out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Keep in mind this is a fun, kid- and adult-friendly,
unfussy meal. Don’t use your best linens because there <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> be olive oil on the table.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDntzRj4Ab1Coi9QhYfSwFC8x0ntED7oPcyF3XmM-GtTlz3D18zx4bzMzq5M354_RWDUPrwxaWzDGBXzCek2qAQLO9DM-aF5-_QvGGjXy_VfUsNUUAY6PWMExnjFU-Ha454ZxUAzTAGEO/s1600/IMG_3342.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDntzRj4Ab1Coi9QhYfSwFC8x0ntED7oPcyF3XmM-GtTlz3D18zx4bzMzq5M354_RWDUPrwxaWzDGBXzCek2qAQLO9DM-aF5-_QvGGjXy_VfUsNUUAY6PWMExnjFU-Ha454ZxUAzTAGEO/s640/IMG_3342.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We combine the two plates of shrimp for the table.<br />See all the herbs and garlic on the bottom? mmmm</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><i>Shrimp Mosca</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Raw shrimp with or without tails, we like the 31-40
size<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Olive oil, just enough to cover<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">White wine, a glug or two, doesn’t matter what kind
as long as you like it, we use Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay or whatever's in the wine rack<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Garlic, at least several cloves, we use the better
part of a head<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Fresh herbs, chopped, lots: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Rosemary<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Oregano<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Basil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;">Thyme<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: .5in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">(Or use dried Italian Herbs blend from your spice cupboard)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Salt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Asparagus (we had never done that before but we had
a bit from the garden so we threw it in too)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Preheat oven to 450°F. For two pounds of shrimp, use
two 9x13 baking dishes and fill each about 1/4 to 1/3 inch deep with olive oil.
If using, add some wine – don’t forget to put some in the oil, too </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;">. Generously sprinkle with herbs, garlic, and salt.
Place dishes in the oven for at least 5 minutes. To determine if the oil is hot
enough, put a wooden spoon handle into it. If it bubbles a bit, it’s ready for
the shrimp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Carefully remove baking dishes from the oven and
place shrimp in a single layer. If using asparagus or other veg, now’s the time
for that too. Put the dishes back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes; just until
the shrimp are pink and plump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Serve with large napkins and eat with your fingers…
well maybe not your salad. Enjoy!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-33459680626217913102012-03-26T16:20:00.000-07:002012-03-26T16:20:39.403-07:00Menu Planning<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;">Today marks the third week I’ve actually sat down
and planned what meals we are going to eat during the week. Some of you are
shaking your heads and murmuring, “Helloooo! This is only your </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"><i>third</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Futura;"> week???”
While others are thinking, “Why bother?” So this post is for the rest of you
who think I might be on to something.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">After poring over Pinterest for clever ways to spur
my interest in planning ahead and pinning several possibilities onto my Good
Ideas board, not to mention procrastinating (my favorite!), I finally came
across one that is simple enough that it might actually work long term. At first I was
enamored by those with the cute magnets and creative cutouts but wondered where
I would store the extra bits in an already full kitchen, because it must be in
the kitchen or it will not get used. Then there was the type that is
semi-permanently attached to the fridge via various tapes and sticky letters, but
this wasn’t realistic because my fridge sides are surrounded and I refuse to
put anything on the front of my brand new fridge (our last was so cluttered with
pictures that it drove me nuts). Not to mention that both types offer little
flexibility when new recipes surface which happens frequently, unless you want
to get all your craft stuff out again, make the mess, etc., or make something
quick and dirty that doesn’t match. I need them to match.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">Just the other day I ran across <a href="http://www.thelovelycupboard.com/">The Lovely Cupboard</a> blog. On
the tour of her 1940s cottage is a photo of a clipboard whose board has been
simply decorated and on it is a piece of paper marked “menu” with a two-week
block-style calendar in which to write your meals, under which is space for shopping
lists. There is also a little box beneath to hold pens so there is always one
at hand. I chose to attach my pen to the side of the bulletin board with Velcro instead. Simple. Adaptable.
Brilliant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">The ultimate goal of this menu planner is to help me to think about what's for dinner more than fifteen minutes before we should be eating it. The Captain will tell you that I don't think about food until I'm starving and have to eat <i>right now</i>. He is one who thinks about tomorrow night's dinner. I can't usually be bothered with something that trivial when I have more pressing things to worry about like getting The Boy bathed and in bed so I can collapse and watch The Big Bang Theory or something equally stimulating. However, since I've implemented the menu planner, I've noticed several things: I go to the market less often, I make better use of leftovers, I know what's in the fridge, I'm saving money, I don't have to think of something on the fly to make for dinner because it's already written down, and, most importantly, I can easily answer the question, "What's for dinner, Honey/Mom?" but I don't have to because they know where to look. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">See? This blog is keeping me accountable and helping
me get organized. Next post I'll give you the recipe one of our favorite dinners.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Futura;"><br /></span></div>Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3173319737834511737.post-40375624611087166792012-03-22T17:25:00.000-07:002012-03-22T17:25:11.784-07:00Commercials<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">First, I'd like to apologize for my recent several
weeks’ absence. My life changed two weeks ago. All is well now, however, and I
may at some future moment decide to share -- but not today. Anyway…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">So we finally have satellite TV back in the house
and it’s becoming part of our lives once more. What is astonishing to The Boy
and I is our fascination with commercials. We, again, have a DVR which we loved
when we had pay TV two years ago because we could skip all the annoying
commercials and shave about ten minutes off every half hour show. However,
because we’ve been in our own little counter culture, outside the real world of
commercial television for so long, we find ourselves watching commercials for
cars and tissues, cereal and, most of all, ads for all the new shows that have
popped up since last we had “real” TV. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Futura;">I realize this attraction is short-lived, that soon
will be back to being irritated by commercials and happily fast-forwarding through them. That the phrase, “I hate ‘Live TV’!” which was once common in our home
will resurface. In the meantime, you’ll have to excuse me, the TV show I’ve
been ignoring while writing this post is finished. It’s time for the
commercials. </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Futura; mso-bidi-font-family: Futura; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Futura; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span><span style="font-family: Futura;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Mama Mike's Museshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01192398679515317137noreply@blogger.com1