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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Annual Scone Party...

The neighborhood annual scone party!

It will be our 6th year, I can't believe we have lived in Idaho this long. But this is proof... the very first year we moved here, these families adopted us and included us in all their neighborhood annual fun times. Even though we are not technically part of their neighborhood... I am not sure how it worked, I guess they just thought we were cute. So really we are just cute party crashers I suppose!
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My boys didn't make it... basketball practice took precedence over scones???? WHAT?? I know, the weirdest boys in the world!!!
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The Hostess... mother of the teenagers best friend.
(somehow I missed getting a picture of her husband,
the great scone cook of the night)

Great Friends...

Cutest most fun loving Young Women...

Families...

Long time friends, and long time neighbors...
Playing, and laughing together...
And scones, of course...
We are so glad they invite us to come crash their parties!
A good time was had by all!!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Southern Cooking Tip...

Okay, I am not really sure if this is a "Southern" thing or not... but I am sure I have only ever had it in the South.
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Chili dogs in the South are not your average Nally's can of chili. It's a very finely chopped hamburger meat and NO beans in a chili powder sauce. That is what they call chili! I have no idea what they call the other kind.
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So when you see chili dogs advertised... the Chili on the dogs will be just what I described... nothing more, nothing less!
Unless you see some other red neck version of a chili dog, like slaw dogs!!!
(oh and most of the time they will have onions and mustard on them)
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(Seriously, I shouldn't make jokes about them, this place is famous for them and packs in a crowd at lunchtime, rain, snow, sleet or hail. I should be so lucky as to do all the business they do between 11am and 230pm! )

Yes, of course I stopped and tried one... Wally Dog, who wouldn't be tempted. Topped off with onion rings and a diet coke... minus the slaw (too weird even for me).

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So I got the secret tip from my Mom, being the southern belle that she is... and it works! This chili is so yummy!!! I just love it chopped up all fine, it melts in your mouth!!

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Being a braveheart in the kitchen today, I decided if it was good on hot dogs, it would be good that way in lasagna too!

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(I know my mother is cringing about now... after trying to feed the Strong Silent Mysterious Man for the past week... yes this might be a stretch, messing with his lasagna meat!)

So the secret, or the not so secret tip is to add water while browning the meat. Just like 1/4 to 1/2 cup for 2lbs. of hamburger.

And you can chop with a biscuit cutter, a fork, or a fancy meat chopper from Pampered Chef that has never worked for me until I added the secret water... and this time it worked perfectly. I bet I can make a million if I sell this secret to all the distributors of this fancy tool.

And walah!
Finely chopped meat in the spaghetti sauce... not everyone likes their meat small, some like it chunky. I never actually asked my family, but I like it fine, so tonight I tried it out on them.

And either they didn't notice, they were starving to death, or they just really liked it... because they dug into this lasagna like there was no tomorrow.

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And my Strong Silent Mysterious Man has already asked me to pack him some for lunch tomorrow... that is always a really good sign, if he will eat it not just once, but twice!
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Success!!!
(not always an easy task in my kitchen, so definitely blog worthy)

Monday, December 29, 2008

The Shopping Trip...

As much as I despise shopping with my teenager... because he is not just particular about what he buys for himself, he actually thinks of something very specific and then you have to go try and find it out in the world somewhere.
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I promised him, I would go with him into the city so he could spend his much coveted American Eagle gift card he got for Christmas!
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I geared up, put on all my patience! And even pretended in my mind that I was a fly on the wall watching my soon to be grown up son out shopping for himself without me one day.
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It worked! I survived! He found some things he liked!
We made it home without killing each other!
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SUCCESS!!!

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas 2008 Highlights...

Because I was so busy cherishing the moments this past week in Seattle with my family... I didn't take the time to journal it each day. So this is a summary from my photos... of some of the highlights!
The best of my time was with my family...
And getting to see friends...
A family favorite lunch out...

Seeing my brother with both his boys...
Babies... (this is Ella, my brothers great niece... 3 months and trying to walk!)

More Babies... (my sister with her grand daughter; my great niece Brooklynn)
And more Babies... (my brothers grand daughter; my great niece, Lillian) Mom speaking her new made up language to Brooklynn... it was so funny, I think she liked that she could understand every word!
Playing with the babies...

A weird realization there may be more babies in my future, someday...

Finally getting control of the flicker, and getting to watch Kung Fu Panda...

Shopping with my Mom for my Dad. Out with the old...

In with the new...

Shopping for my Dad's gift to my Mom...

Who's bright idea was it to try and find a bird bath in the middle of the winter...
The crazy shopping trip to downtown Seattle...
Believe it or not, this was NOT my idea!

In the blizzard...

The famous traditional Bon Star...
The lights downtown were beautiful!

The scary buildings that made my Strong Silent Mysterious Man cringe and claustrophobic... Niketown (were we just HAD to go) was the biggest dissapointment ever! There were so many people downtown you couldn't even stop and look down at your feet, or you would be run over.
It was seriously the fastest trip in and out of downtown I have ever made!

Playing Wii Fit!!!

More baby pictures...

Family feasts...

New toys on Christmas day!
Discovering the boxes are just as fun as the new toys!

The silly string fight...

Its all fun...

And then the boys get a little competitive...

And it's always the innocent by standers that get hurt...

But luckily her Dad stepped in and taught her how to get even...
The traditional cousin picture... we have a few of these over the years, but couldn't remember who was see no evil, speak no evil and hear no evil.
Gotta find those original copies and see how we did!
Then the trip home... Snoqualmie Summit!

Great memories of where I learned to ski 36 years ago!
I have not marked this off my list just yet... I am getting back on the slopes again!!!
I promised myself; and seeing this gets me all excited all over again!!!
And the teenager and animals all packed up in the back of the car, loaded down with movies, treats and snacks... no need to even stop.
Except we did make one quick stop and see our sister and her family in Richland, and I forgot to get any pictures! Drat!!!
It was a great week!
A good time was had by all!

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