Happy New Year!

An adorable version of this song by two of the most adorable people around.  If this doesn't charm the pants off of you........well then,.........you were probably pants-less to begin with.

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble

We are hosting a small gathering for six for Thanksgiving this year and preparations are, um, well...sort of underway.  We have shopped and Kevin is picking up our fresh turkey from the butcher shop tonight.  The house is still kind of a mess because we ground to an almost complete halt on any form of housework after the pumpkin carving party.  We should be able to get that all done tonight.  Maybe.

Anyway, our menu is going to be the basics but I am trying a few new recipes for some old standards.  Thank you internet for your bounty of available recipes and reviews!  Instead of just plain old pumpkin pie (don't get me wrong, I love it but want to try something new) we are having Honey Phyllo Pumpkin Pie.  Instead of the back of the package cranberry sauce I am trying Spice Scented Cranberry Sauce.  And because I have an ice-cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid that needs to be broken in still and some straight from a Tahitian market vanilla beans waiting to be used we are making Vanilla Ice Cream.  I am also going to make a pear, pecan, blue cheese salad with maple vinaigrette for dinner.  We have never had a salad on the Thanksgiving dinner table before and I think we need one item that is fresh and not entirely drenched in butter or grease.  But just one, let's not go crazy.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you are and whatever you find yourself doing tomorrow.  

Merry Christmas

I have to admit that I am totally phoning Christmas in this year.  But even with the lack of enthusiasm I think our living room looks pretty festive, cozy and warm.  I love walking down the stairs and seeing this image complete with curled up happy cat on the sofa (cat two is on her rocking chair on the other side of the fireplace).  Please also note the Mistletoad hanging in the corner of the photo.  Not Christmas without a Mistletoad.

We really toned it down this year and there are quite a few things we didn't get around to putting up.  We did hang a swag of cedar all down the bannister and the entryway is decorated and there are a few decorations in the dining area but basically.... not so into it. 

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and enjoy the peace, warmth and of the season.  Oh, and eggnog...enjoy that too!!

Happy Halloween!

Here are some pictures from last weekend's First Annual Pumpkin Carving Party.  It has to be an annual tradition because we have so much Halloween and pumpkin carving infrastructure now that it would be a shame not to have it every year.  Besides, Kevin's family has held a pumpkin carving party back in Baltimore for over 30 years.  We are merely carrying the tradition to the west coast.  We even made his Grandmother's Hungarian GHOUL-ash for the occasion.

 The lineup in the light.

 The true test of a carved pumpkin.

Todd with the world's thickest pumpkin. 

My prize winning kitty-cat.

My prize winning kitty-cat anus.

Kevin and his creation.

Mike and Amber with, far and away, the best design.  Their Space Needle and witch just weren't deep enough for the light to shine through. Too bad, 'cause this could have easily walked away with it all.

Kim, Nellie, Patty and Paul hard at work.

Kevin giving his pumpkin a colonoscopy.

Pumpkin carving is hard work.

Everyone hard at work.

 I am always impressed with the quality of carvings people do.  Yes, stencils were allowed and most people used some kind of stencil but even with that in mind I thought the gourds turned out fabulously.  Unfortunately, Kevin and I won second and first place respectively.  You never want that to happen when you are the hosts.  We kept some of the goodies out of the prize bags but did give most of it away.  OK, not most.  I hung onto the movie tickets and some Seattle Chocolate truffle bars we bought.

I hope everyone has a happy day and gets rid of their mini-chocolate bars quickly.

Easter Eats

What is the first thing you do with your big box of fresh produce that is meant to help you eat healthier?  Why you make a tart, of course.  A Meyer lemon and chocolate tart to be exact and my it was tasty.  Healthy eating is awesome! 

This was one of our desserts on Easter which, of course included the traditional ritual bread bunny slaughter.  Even though I know my brother is going to do this every year I am still surprised when, at some point, I turn around in the kitchen and see the bunicide on the table.  This is really the only family tradition we have.  Not sure what that says about us.

I hope you all had a fabulous bunny day. 

The Last Few Weeks

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Between Kevin's birthday weekend getaway, cleaning the disorganized and filthy house for Thanksgiving, shopping/prepping/cooking for Thanksgiving, and That Which Shall Not Be Named it has been a little crazy.

Kevin's birthday was great. We went to McMenamin's Grand Lodge and had a great time relaxing, wine tasting, and playing disc golf. Kevin turned 40 with very minimal amounts of weeping and wailing.

Here is the Grand Lodge and the birthday boy posing by a sign in the basement.

This is Kevin gallantly trying to find my bright orange "Frisbee" that I lost in the water feature. Charlie Brown had his kite eating tree; I have my Frisbee sucking pond. We never did find the dang thing and I ended up having to buy one to finish the game. I lost by the one penalty point I incurred by hitting the water feature. Aaarrrgh!

We hosted Thanksgiving this year for my family and our friend J.B. All together there were nine of us but apparently I can't count that high and until my brother pointed out the number of people as we were getting ready to sit down at the table I had no idea. Luckily, we had one extra plate and a metal folding chair so I had a place to sit and eat. Just as we were sitting down to eat, Ollie decided that now would be a perfect time to go on a very vocal, very lengthy "date" with his favorite cat toy. We were serenaded by the sounds of neutered cat attempted fornication while we ate our dinner. Kind of the highlight of the day I would say (for us and for Ollie). Other than a failure to turn on a crockpot, the dinner came off OK. I am always super-hard on myself so I didn't think the food was particularly good but people seemed to enjoy it and enjoy the day which, in the end, is what really matters. I am, however, on the lookout for a good stuffing recipe. Send them my way.

These are the fabulous turkey napkin holders that Kevin made for the occasion. Many hours were spent with the scroll saw to create eight of these little guys.

I hope you all enjoyed your holiday. Thanksgiving has always just been a road bump on the path to Christmas for me so I am (almost) ready to get down to the serious holiday-ing.