It's A Village Thing: 2011

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Holiday Traditions

We have kept our families separate on the holidays so that has meant more work for us. Tradition has been to hop from one house to the other for Thanksgiving meals. Breakfast with my mom and step-dad and dinner with my husband's family. Same thing for Christmas, New Year and Easter.

This year is different. It is our first time being away from family for these big holidays. We moved 540 miles from our relatives in January this year. We will not be hopping from one house to the other, and honestly I don't know what we will be doing.

I have visions of greatness. A turkey (note: first and only turkey I made was undercooked, and still had the neck and giblets bag in it), some mashed potatoes, pies, cranberry. All the good stuff.

Problem is...it's just going to be the four of us. My kids don't like turkey unless it's sandwich meat, my son gags on mashed potatoes, and a favorite word for both of them these days is "yuck."

My solution...I might call my dinner order in at the local grocery store. (note: my mom does this and we have always given her a hard time about it. we even ate a holiday meal at a hotel one year. sorry mom. i understand now.) Okay, I will probably make a pie or two but why slave in the kitchen and get crabby on a day that I would rather enjoy with the family.

I will probably think of something to do that will start new traditions for us. This is my chance to break the mold and it could be fun.

Do you have any traditions and fun ideas to share?

Friday, October 7, 2011

Grandma Mae

My late Grandma Mae was a character. I have fond memories of her from when I was a kid. My sister and I used to spend a lot of time with her and it was always an adventure.

She would take us walking on the railroad tracks where we used to find "treasure" and she would play penny poker with us. Yes, a poker playing grandma. She also had a dollhouse for us to play with that was complete with mini rolls of toilet paper.

The evenings at her house would almost always end in front of the TV watching a Shirley Temple movie, while eating a big bowl of popcorn filled with green apple slices and chunks of caramel. I would regret it if I didn't also mention how she used to hold a flash light up to her face at night and pop her dentures out. Like I said, she was a chracter.

As a teenager Grandma Mae was just as fun unless you left your bedroom door open and she decided to clean your room. Pray that you had no notes for her to find. I'll never forget when she found my training bra. It was like a scene out of the movie Sixteen Candles. Yikes! Oh, and one time she made a left hand turn too early and just decided to drive on the wrong side of the road until she got to the correct turn. Double yikes!

What I remember most, besides her crazy antics, is her baking. She could bake like no one else I have EVER known. Pies, cookies, turkey dinners you name it. She even made her own salami. The salami had mustard seeds in it that would crunch in your mouth and release their flavor on impact. I wish I had that recipe. This was a woman who knew her way around a kitchen. If you have ever seen the cooking show Two Fat Ladies then you can imagine a bit of what my grandma was like.

So, when I bake I think of her. How could I not. I hope that I honor her memory well when I am in the kitchen.

Grandma Mae these are for you.

Fresh French Bread

Apple Pie from my Le Cordon Bleu Professional Baking Book

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

To San Francisco with Love

Last month we took a trip to San Francisco for the day. Our intentions were to leave the house by 8am but we didn't leave until 11am. We figured it was a Saturday, no work traffic. We thought it wouldn't be a big deal. IT WAS!

Like I said we left at 11am, stopped for lunch in Sacramento, and didn't arrive in SF until 5:30 pm. We didn't realize that we decided to come into town on a very big weekend. The 49ers played the Oakland Raiders that very same day and we rode in with all the fans. At some point I was ready to turn around and go back home. My husband wanted to reach our destination,and tends to be less pessimistic than I am, so we pressed forward. I'm glad that we did. Even though we only stayed for 3 hrs and it took us twice that to get there.

The last time I was in San Francisco was almost 10 years ago (came through on honeymoon) and it's still just as interesting as I remembered. The very first time I visited was way back in high school and I spent just a few hours at the pier eating clam chowder and sipping on sarsaparilla.

All the hours and frustration I felt while sitting on the freeway were washed away when we crossed the bridge. I do love SF.

I love the bridges, even though the tolls are ridiculous.

I love the fish.

I love the chocolate.

I love the history.

I even love the cheesy chain restaurants.

I love the city at night.

My husband and I have agreed that the next time we make the trip that we leave early and make sure that there are no sporting events happening in town.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Challenged

I am so blog design challenged. I deleted my last blog because I messed it up and couldn't figure out how to fix it. I am now back and facing the same problem. I am sure that the hosting site has all the tools I need. I just don't have the patience to figure it out. Please forgive my site. One day maybe it will look like one of these.

http://domesticreflections.blogspot.com/

http://itsahuntlife.blogspot.com/

Monday, August 8, 2011

Adventure Time

It's not an adventure if you plan it. I wish I could claim those words of wisdom as my own, but they came out of a Title Nine catalog.

This weekend we went on an adventure. Where to? Sierraville, CA. What's in Sierraville? Not much. It's a town that needs a sign that says "If you are looking for Sierraville, you just passed it."

That being said we had a great time. We had a nice authentic Mexican lunch at Los Dos Hermanos. There are only 3 restaurants in the town. Guessing from the traffic outside this place we chose the best one. Even the Sheriff was eating there. The tacos were over flowing with meat, cheese and lettuce and the shells were definately made fresh.

I texted my friend from the booth and asked what we were suppoed to do here. Her reply, we usually pass through. Uh oh. We may have taken this tour for no reason.

Absolutely not. There's always a good reason to hop in the car and drive to see where the road takes you.

"Hey honey, pull over there are some horses in that field.", I said. My husband doesn't know horses like I do. "Why?" "So we can pet them." Doesn't he know that they are like dogs. Walk up to the fence and they will be there in seconds. Yes! These horses did not dissapoint.

We must have spent a good 30 minutes with Chick Chick and Lazy Cow. Yes, they got named. I feel like a little girl around horses. Never got that pony I wanted. I've spent the remainder of my life being around them whenever possible. When I was in college I spent some of my off time taking care of other peoples horses. Good times. My sister and I almost purchased one together. I think she has that pony dream too.

We discoverd that there is a hot springs resort in Sierraville. That seemed like an interesting option until we found out that the pools are clothing optional. No thanks. With a 5 year old that may be too many questions to answer.

The way home was just as pleasant. We stopped at random areas along the side of the road to tickle our toes in the river, throw rocks or just walk in the grass and wildflowers.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Yum!

This was bound to turn into something good. Garlic, fresh basil and eggplant. Voila! A nice fresh and easy summer time dinner. Home made pesto, grilled eggplant, a little chicken and some pasta. Oh, and the beer that's for washing it all down. Mmmm, mmm, good.