Thing 1 and Thing 2

I used the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) strategy for New Year's Eve dinner by buying some of the food preprepared. My new Things 1 and 2 helped out.

Thing 2 prepared the roast potato and sweet potato

Thing 1 prepared the broiled steak and chicken

New Year's Eve dinner

After dinner we watched a beautiful movie, Two Brothers. It was about two tiger cubs separated from their mother and treated cruelly by humans. The ending was, thankfully, pure Hollywood! 

Cold!

The temperature is currently 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-17.8 degrees Centigrade).

"I'm telling you, guys, life is sooo rough."

Another cooking gizmo ...

... with a happy story behind it. Craig ordered me a Moroccan tagine for my birthday. Alas, it arrived in shards. Apparently most of them arrive shattered:-( So yesterday he called Zappos , the company he ordered it from, and told them about it. They were out of the tagines, but they offered him a refund or store credit plus an additional $50 store credit:-O Anyhow, I searched on-line for electric fondues at Zappos and found this all-singing, all-dancing device. It can be an electric fondue, a Japanese donabe, or even a Moroccan tagine! Since it was $52 more than the tagine, Craig had his credit card ready to pay the extra $2 when he called them back to order it. Not only would they not let him pay the extra, but they've upgraded us to free overnight delivery for life! This company just earned itself some very loyal customers in this family! They were so nice about the whole thing! And, sure enough, a very exciting package arrived today:-)

Dinner tonight took about 5 minutes to prepare. I made a sort of taco casserole in my new toy.

A picture of the box. A sliding knob on the side controls temperature.

Let It Snow!!!

We are finally getting a decent, respectable blizzard!

Hopefully it will get cold enough to kill off the mountain pine beetles that are decimating forests in the west.

My babies, human and canine, decided to play outside with their new sleds.

The storm is supposed to last a few days, so I, like virtually everyone else in this town, decided to hit Safeway to stock up on food. The aisles were so crowded that someone accidentally made off with my cart, which was pretty full by then!:-) Anyhow, I tracked it down a few aisles on and reclaimed it from a very sweet and embarrassed lady. LOL! 

Exact Heat Convection Toaster Oven Broiler

I'm so pleased with my new Cuisinart gizmo!

Today I baked Lemon Blueberry Loaf Cake in it, using the convection bake setting. Because the oven is so small, it heats up in a couple of minutes.

I also broiled Lemon/Sage chicken breasts. Yum! The drip pan contains water that keeps the chicken moist, and fat from the chicken drips through the broiler rack. The oven size makes the broiling process very manageable.

Tomorrow I'm going to bake banana muffins. Thank you, You-Know-Who!!!:-P I love it!

Christmas Dinner

After Craig stood in line for an hour at the Honey-Baked Ham store and bought ham, chutney, roast turkey, potatoes au gratin, and cinnamon-baked apples, I didn't have much cooking to do.

Christmas bling

Yule log -- the meringue mushrooms didn't work out too well, so we had meringue lichen instead

Merry Christmas!!!

Our traditional Christmas Eve dinner includes salad, cold cuts, cheese fondue with bread, and chocolate fondue with marshmallows and fruit

Iorek Byrnison hangs out in the living room over Christmas

Christmas morning finally arrives! 

Cardboard boxes and wrapping paper accumulate

A refractor telescope for Daniel

Laura and Emma

Emma, Laura, and "the other Iorek Byrnison"

Craig opens a gift

A camera for Paige

And finally, after waiting for hours, the poor, neglected puppies get their stockings

They understand completely that the stockings contain their Christmas gifts

It's very hard to be polite when you're so excited!

It's now December 26th. The celebration fatigue is such that I've read two more really awful Dean Koontz novels (Relentless and Whisper) and am now going to watch Nightmare Before Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all!

"Special Trip" to Denver

It's hard to give four children enough attention, so Craig or I will occasionally take one or two of the kids away for a short while for some spoiling. It was definitely Laura's turn, and she was kind enough to invite Emma along. We decided to spend a night in Denver. Because of the time of year, the Sheraton in downtown Denver has fewer business guests than usual, so we got a great deal there. We headed up yesterday (Tuesday) and spent the evening exploring part of 16th Street Mall. After dinner along the mall, we returned to the hotel, had Christmas cookies, and read Dylan Thomas's "A Child's Christmas in Wales" . I also read "Breathless" by Dean Koontz, which I picked up at the library before we left. Although he has apparently sold over 400 million (?!) books, I'd never read any of them, so I felt it was time to try. I wasn't overly impressed -- one-dimensional characters, some rather stereotyped views about science (communicated, of course, by the kindest, wisest, and most educated character,) and a predictable and formulaic plot -- but I should probably read a few more of his books before I dismiss the guy. In the morning, we started out at the Denver Art Museum (or "DAM"), which was within easy walking distance of the hotel (alas, we got lost, so the "short  walk" took a little longer than expected:-O), then had lunch at Cinzetti's, our favorite Italian restaurant (a buffet with a super-abundance of options,) and finally finished up at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum , which is a great favorite with my budding aviators. I finished up my Christmas shopping at the museum gift stores, both of which had some awesome choices! Denver was relatively warm, sunny, and dry, but it was 20 degrees cooler at home, as well as very foggy and frosty. 'Still holding out hope for a White Christmas!:-) 

Emma at the DAM admiring a sand mandala created by Buddhist monks and preserved in glue 

Laura and Emma in the cockpit of a Boeing 727 at the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum

This time they're in the cockpit of a DC 10

These dudes like to wander around the Air and Space Museum in their authentic Lucas Productions costumes. Apparently they show up for the annual Halloween party at the museum (something to consider for next year.)

Human Rights Day

Last Friday, December 10, was Human Rights Day

I attended a service at my Unitarian Universalist church today and heard the following words that I liked so much I decided to repeat them here.

The first quote is from Liu Xiabo who won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize:

"The greatness of non-violent resistance is that even as man is faced with forceful tyranny and the resulting suffering, the victim responds to hate with love, to prejudice with tolerance, to arrogance with humility, to humiliation with dignity, and to violence with reason."

The second is from Rainer Maria Rilke :

I live my life in growing rings
that move out over the things around me.
Perhaps I'll never complete the last,
But that's what I mean to try.

I'm circling around God, around the ancient tower,
and I've been circling for thousands of years;
and I still don't know:am I a falcon, a storm
or a great song?

Daniel turns 15 and celebrates at the Air and Space Museum

Another birthday: Daniel turns 15! How did that happen? I was just getting used to 14! After presents, Craig took Daniel and some friends up to Denver. They had lunch at Cinzetti's and then visited the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum , which is one of Daniel's favorites. Finally they came home for birthday cake.

Presents ...

Lunch ...

Checking out the planes ...

Esa and Daniel ...

Taking on the world ...

Laura about to abscond in one of the planes ...

And back home for birthday cake.

Now I'm about to make some Basque chicken for dinner.

Paige's 17th Birthday and the Denver Aquarium

So Paige turned 17 today! Again, I have to seriously re-examine my paradigms and accept that she is now a young adult and ready for college!

She wanted to spend the day at the Denver Aquarium, so G'Pa Bernie, Paige, Daniel, Emma, and I (Laura wasn't feeling well; poor Craig had to work) headed up there this morning. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place with gorgeous exhibits.

Birthday morning means getting presents

Paige at the aquarium

A 200 lb. alligator snapping turtle, apparently found mostly in southern North America

A river otter

Colorado's state fish: the greenback cutthroat trout

A Sumatran tiger having a drink

At the aquarium restaurant (opposite the kids was a floor to ceiling salt water fish tank)

Paige

Emma and Paige look at a very loud and squawky macaw

Daniel

Paige

Back home for birthday cake