Drive By Wrapping

Mr. Mamie's mom and his twin sister were in the Big Town doing some last minute Chirstmas shopping and gift delivery last week (they live 2 two hours north of us).  For once I actually had the sense to snap a couple of photos - not great composition, but it's nice to have some shots of his family.

 Mr. Mamie helps his mom out by wrapping a present she is about to deliver.

 Mr. Mamie and his twin sister - aren't they cute?!

 The Beagle was begging to be in the pictures!

 Mr. Mamie and his mama.

 TwinSis, Mama, Mr. Mamie

  ~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Recipe Review: Rosemary Tangerine Chicken

Rosemary Tangerine Chicken:  Instead of baking this as the recipe describes, I prepared it slightly differently and got excellent results.

I made double the amount and froze one bag of chicken and marinade to use later in the month. Since I only had three tangerines, I substituted the juice of one small orange.

Instead of marinating the chicken breasts whole, I pre-cut them into bite-sized pieces. This allowed more surface area for the marinade to come in contact with. Since the marinade flavors are pretty mild, I though this would be beneficial.

Having cut the chicken up, baking it would not be the best approach. Instead, I did it as a quick stir-fry. This worked very well, especially with the chicken served over plain couscous.

This was a nice, mild (as in, not-spicy) dinner that suited us perfectly on a night that Mr. Mamie was suffering the after-effects of a stomach bug.  We will enjoy having it again.

(Sorry, I failed to get a photo!)

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Christmas Day 2010 at GolfDad's

Yet more pictures of Christmas 2010.

Our "mixed grill" Chirstmas dinner - Nephew had a cheeseburger, a hot dog, AND mahi-mahi!

Opening Mamie's final hand-made gifts.

They liked it! (Post coming soon on what "it" is.)

GolfDad examining his loaf of whole wheat/wheat germ/flax meal bread.

Checking out the jar of "Confetti Bean" soup.

Brother Igor was sent to the back of the house, where PsychoCat was locked up, to fetch a bottle of vino. Note the golf club clutched in his hand, for protection.

 

He returns, unharmed, and triumphant!

What GolfDad's cat (aka "Psycho") gave him for Christmas.

Mr. Mamie keepin' busy after dinner with a library book (he said it wasn't very well written, BTW, so don't bother checking it out).

The book was boring, so he took a nap!

 

Igor on the phone with Grammie.

Mrs. Igor felt the need to fix something in GolfDad's kitchen.

The lighted wreath and garland above the fireplace, which Wombat loved... miss you, Mom... Christmas isn't the same without you.

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Quote

"She puts nutmeg in everything! She's a nutmeg-a-aholic!" ~Niece

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Image credit

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 12/29/10

 

Even the "dog pantry" is full-to-overflowing right now!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Recipe Review: Three-Potato Soup with Fresh Rosemary and Rosemary Focaccia

 

Soup in the CrockPot before blending.

Three Potato Soup with Fresh Rosemary: This soup was thinner than I expected (or wanted). I had even added an additional medium russet potato to start with, but once blended, the soup was still rather "soupy," as opposed to the thicker texture I would have expected with a potato soup. Next time I make it (and I liked the flavor enough to do it again) I will cut the initial amount of liquid by two cups, and only add more toward the end if it looks like it's cooking down too much.  This was a good soup to share with GolfDad, because it is dairy-free (he's lactose-intolerant). We took him a jar for his dinner the night it was made, though I haven't heard back on how well he liked it.

Overall, it was tasty, especially because we added some Monterrey Jack cheese to our bowls upon serving!

Also, I made a Rosemary Focaccia to go with it, which was DELICIOUS, both on it's own and dipped in the soup. I definitely recommend having a sturdy, yummy bread to dunk in the soup

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Right Now 12-29-10

Time: 9:11  a.m.



In my mug: DietCoke – I got ten 2-liter bottles from the Igor Family as a Christmas present! It’s actually in my insulated red tall plastic cup with the cute snowman on it - HA, that's the exact same line that was in my LAST "Right Now" post. It's still true!



Outside my window: To the south - grey sky, falling rain. To the north - more rain, thick clouds obscuring the snowy mountains.


In my belly: Pretzel snaps and cheese.

Beside me: A dining table chair piled with cookbooks.

In the fridge: Eggnog, buttermilk, cream, milk - wonderful things for baking! Lots of produce, eggs, and cheese. Ground beef defrosting for tonight's Hobo Hash dinner.

 

In my ears: The "Today" show on NBC.



On me: Old, soft jeans; black, long-sleeved t-shirt; pink short-sleeved t-shirt; dark navy fleece pull-over; pink and navy fleece socks; black Crocs.


Looking forward to: The kids coming over so I can put them to work taking down the Christmas decorations; making Buttermilk Cinnamon Bread with Niece; a day of organizing and baking and perhaps sewing.

Grateful for: This two-week vacation - it has been WONDERFUL!

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

School Activities - November/December

Here are a few photos of our November and December activities:

 Our superheroes from Red Ribbon Week.

 Turkey glyphs.

 Writing posted in the hallway - our "reviews" of the high school play Peter Pan.

 Working on writing pages for our Christmas books.

 Paining hands for reindeer antlers.

 Making reindeer antler hand-prints.

 Working in the re-telling center (sentence building).

 Birthday card center.

Spelling center.

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Christmas Eve at Casa Mamie

Since we've lived here in The Village (over six years now!), our family Christmas Eve has been held at Casa Mamie, Christmas morning at Chez Igor, and Christmas Dinner at Wombat and GolfDad's. I have to admit that I don't always make it over to the Igors' for Chirstmas morning...turns out I have no problem with sleeping in on holidays!

Here's the WAY LONG (so stop here if you really don't care!) 2010 photographic record of Chirstmas Eve:

 GrandmaT was trying to vacuum and dust, with no help from The Beagle.

 Mr. Mamie graciously helped with the cupcake decoration - he's much better at it than I am!

 I put sprinkles on mine, to disguise my lame frosting skills.

 We kept Mr. Mamie's plain, since they were pretty!

 Our Chirstmas card display, minus the 10 or so more than came after this picture!

 The Igor Family arrived with this giant box, which I was SURE was a flat screen TV for us! (Hmmmpf, turned out to be a really nice hiking stick for Mr. Mamie.)

 Tree with ridiculous piles of presents

 Growing up, we had a tradition in which GrandpaMWH always received a box of Turtles candy for Christmas. After he was gone, Brother Igor became the lucky recipient. This year, I did homemade Pretzel Turtles for him, which turned out very yummy! (Recipe coming soon.) I gave him a whoooooole bunch in a "hand-crafted" box to take on the truck with him.

 Nephew got a way fun looking RC helicopter from GolfDad.

 Niece got a stylin' book bag with the high school logo on it from GolfDad.

 Nephew watching his mom open a present.

 Mrs. Igor helps The Beagle with his new squeeky duckie.

 The Beagle takes his duckie away to play.

 GrandmaT got a tiny keychain flashlight, just what she needed!

 Niece is ready to learn to knit - and so am I!

 Mrs. Igor  got cool socks for her new Couch-to-5K running project.

 The Beagle is looking for more presents...

 Oh goody, a flat flying squirrel!

 Igor received a CO2 detector for the truck from his loving (and paranoid) sister. 

 GolfDad opening a framed photo of the grandchildren. No, we did not supply him with the disposable bottle of water... he brings his own.

 GrandmaT with a photo of her siblings that Mrs. Igor had framed.

 Igor checks out the photobook that AuntC and UncleJ sent of their trip here last May, documenting our fun adventures hiking, swimming, riding ziplines, etc.

 Nephew got a cool puzzle game from AuntC and UncleJ.

 GolfDad checking out the photobook. We were all impressed with its coolness!

 Igor - pontificating on the coolness potential of his next present? (I think it turned out to be a pair of Grinch sleep shorts!)

 Niece with her fuzzy penguin pants - I have brainwashed her into loving all things fleece and penguin and purple almost as much as I do!

 Niece and Nephew read the stern note that came with GrandmaT's big gift to them - reminders about sharing and proper care/use...

 ...which were appropriate, consiering that the gift was a LAPTOP COMPUTER of their very own!

 The Mamies gave them a wireless mouse and neoprene carrying case to go with the laptop.

 Igor being goofy with the big metal reuasble soda straws I gave him. The alien antenna look works for him, don't you think?

The evening ended with Mrs. Igor (a licensed massage therapist by profession) doing some work on Mr. Mamie.  My new CrockPot (now I have two - happiness!) and YakTrax are visible as well.

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)