All the Neat Places I hope to visit this Winter

For the first time in many years, Dave and I are looking forward to snow so we can get out and play in it (instead of complaining about it). Here are some places we hope to visit:
Appleton Farms
Brooks Woodland Preserve
Estabrook Woods
Harvard Forest
Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
Narrow-Gauge Rail Trail
Nashua River Rail Trail (We walked 12 miles of this trail one Sunday (what were we thinking? Actually it was a really nice fall day and a lovely trail.)
Weston Ski Track
Wolfeboro, NH and The Little Farm B&B where we have a gift certificate!
Worlds End

Thanksgiving Dinner 2009

Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Warm Cider Vinaigrette

Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Shallot Gravy
My Awesome Stuffing
Whipped Sweet potatoes
Green Beans with garlic and lemon
Homemade baked rolls
Cranberry sauce

Alice on the Guitar

My friend Kyle's little girl Alice is only four years old but apparently ready to take her act on the road. Here is a video clip of her playing a song she wrote on her blue guitar. In the background you will see her dog Pete playing backup. Very cute!!!
http://aliceramey.wordpress.com/

Interesting field trip we took last weekend

We have been wanting to replace the bathroom sink fixtures on our "antique" sink for some time now, so we checked out this place in in an old, gigantic mill in New Bedford, Ma called New England Demo. & Salvage where they have the most amazing assortment of ...well, everything! A whole factory floor of bathtubs for example (surreal!), a section on just doors--thousands of them, stained glass windows which I plan to go back and buy and hang as art, props from movies like a entire train station ticket window . It's a place you have to see to believe. While we did not sadly find what we were looking for, we had fun finding other things we did not know we needed. Steve M. and Kyle, you would love this place!

Megan Cheney Darling, Goldie, and me with Dave in background at Big Tens

The Cheeshroom!

Colleen promises to name this sandwich. (see title! Thanks, Col.!)
Came home last night with no dinner ideas, but looked in fridge (her name is Zandra--she's a beautiful stainless steel, bottom freezer which I will never live without ever again.) and saw some good sammich fixins.

Recipe

Caramelize an onion--get them nice browned and broken down
next sear some portobello mushroom slices in same pan after onion--10 mins more or less.
when done sprinkle some balsamic vinegar on mushrooms until nice and glazed on
Thickly cut rustic bread toasted either in toaster or under broiler with...
good shmears of goat cheese--lay it on nice and thick. When bread is all nice and toasted with cheese, pile on onion and mushroom. Salt and Pepper and enjoy!

Julie's Vegetarian Chili Recipe

Ingredients:
2 T Olive oil
Large onion chopped
Green pepper chopped
Red pepper chopped
Jalapeno chopped (if you have disposable gloves--wear them to handle pepper. Wash hands very well several times and when you take out contacts, beware as it will burn like hell.)
4-6 garlic minced (if you have a mini chopper--use!)
2 T Chili powder (use more or less)
1 1/2 t. Cumin
1/8 t. Chipolte powder (Can lend, or you can get at Penzey’s. I love this spice for its smokiness. You can buy a can of Chipolte peppers in Adobe sauce and use those instead, but I would use just a few and some of the sauce. Freeze rest.)
Dash or more of Cayenne (optional)
1 1/2 t. Oregano
1 t epazote (optional—known for its carminative properties. Can find at Penzey's)
Salt and Pepper
1 large can of Muir Glenn whole tomatoes, chopped with juice from can.
Canned Beans: I like to have a nice combo of them (pick three or so. Rinse and drain first):
black
pinto
butter (my fav. bean!)
kidney
Cannellini
3-4 cups of broth (Veggie, chicken, beef, water, or even V-8 juice, but I prefer broth. See how thick it is as you add. You will need enough liquid for the bulgar to expand.)
1/4-1/2 cup of bulgur (adds a nice texture)
1 oz or a handful of bittersweet choc. chips (some people add cinnamon to their chili. Try it and see what you think)
taste--may need a dash of sugar if too acidic from tomatoes.
Simmer for a nice hour or longer.
Trader Joe's sweet corn (however much you like or leave out)
Condiments:
Minced Cilantro (if you like)
Sour cream
Grated cheddar cheese
To Prepare:
Heat Olive oil in large soup put or dutch oven on medium-low.
Saute onion olive oil a few minutes (5-7) and add and saute another 3 + minutes: green pepper, red pepper, jalapeno, garlic.
Add spices to sauted things and cook for a minute or so .
Add tomatoes chopped with juices. Cook a few mins. and add chicken broth or veggie broth and beans and bring to a nice simmer.
Add bulgur, choc. chips to taste. or a bit of sugar. Simmer for an hour or more, stirring, tasting, and adjusting spices or whatever to taste. Can add more liquid if it gets too thick or if too thin, can leave lid off to reduce liquid a bit--whatever turns you on.
Add some fresh corn or Trader Joes corn with a half hour to go.
Eat! Yummy! Serve with corn bread or tortilla chips.

Good Bye to The Goat

Growing up in the seventies my mother hauled my sister and I around in a silver, rag top, Pontiac GTO ("The Goat") . It was fun driving around with the top down in the summer--all of us with long blond hair whipping our faces in the breeze, but in the winter (top up, of course) we would freeze! Anyway, good bye to Pontiac and "The Goat."

Fun in the kitchen!

Here are some fun and yummy dishes Dave and I cooked up in the kitchen over this long winter. Here's a great tune to accompany this blog entry:
http://new.music.yahoo.com/louis-jordan/tracks/beans-and-corn-bread--643097



I can't cook without wearing the pretty apron Colleen made for my birthday!



Last summer Mr. Gilroy very generously shared with us a whole huge tub of just dug up quohogs from Narragansett Bay and his delicious recipe for clam chowder. Here it is! Turned out wonderfully!



Homemade pizza rocks! We have been making Julia's tomato sauce and pizza dough recipes for many years and it never fails to make us swoon. But I will try Peter Reinhart's pizza dough recipe one day soon as Kyle will not stop talking about it (just kidding, Kyle!)! Here it is:

Julia's Pizza Dough Recipe
2-1/2 tsp yeast (or use instant yeast and skip the proofing part)
1/2 cup tepid water (not more 110 deg F)
1/8 tsp sugar
3/4 cup cold milk
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cup all purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp salt
Makes 2 @ 16 inch disks.
Best results if using a pre-heated pizza stone. Bake
pizza @ 450 deg F or hotter until nice and done
**************************************************
Julia Pizza Sauce Recipe
1/2 cup minced onions
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cups tomato pulp (out of season: half fresh and half
canned)
1/4 tsp thyme
basil fresh or dried
1 imported bay leaf
2 large cloves of garlic, pureed
big pinch of saffron threads
salt and freshly ground pepper
sugar (to taste)
Cook the onions and oil in a 2 quart covered sauce pan
stirring occasionally, until tender but no brown - 6
to 8 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes; cover and cook
slowly several minutes. Stir in the herbs, garlic,
and saffron; salt lightly to taste. Simmer slowly,
partially covered, for 30 minutes, adding a little juice from the
tomatoes if sauce becomes too thick. Taste carefully and correct
seasoning.
Note: May be cooked in advance and refrigerated; may
be frozen. Makes about 2-1/2 cups (enough for many pizza's or pasta).



Dave's Chocolate Cream Pie that he baked for me! Very yummy!
My friend Clare who just made this pie too suggests this recipe (use semi-sweet instead of bitter sweet): http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/109139



Samosa stuffed twice baked potatoes with sauted greens from Veganomicon, one of my fav cookbooks! Such creatively delicious recipes! Dave made this for me too!



As Chuck and Jerry blogged Martha Stewart's Mac n Cheese is like crack!
I experimented with the recipe by cutting the sauce recipe in half and adding it to the pound of pasta and it was absolutely delicious! I can't imagine how decadent it would be with the full recipe! Here it is served with sauted swiss chard and broccoli. So good!!
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/perfect-macaroni-and-cheese?xsc=stf_MSLO-ARTICLE

Wilco Concert in Northampton

Whenever my favorite band Wilco is nearby we travel to hear them. This time Jeff Tweedy flew solo at the Calvin Theater in Northampton, Mass. and even though we had "nose bleed" seats, we saw the stage really really well due to the fabulous pitch and small size of the auditorium. We, of course, got there early and sat and chatted with a nice young bloke going to U-Mass Amherst who was as big a Wilco fan as me! After the less than interesting opening band Pronto was done (sorry, Jorgensen) Tweedy treated us all to a fantastic concert playing acoustically many of his early and middle music with a sprinkling of new pieces that were really good.
But the highlight of the concert was when he played the song I requested: Forget the Flowers one of my favorite songs.
Here it is if you care to listen:
http://wilcoworld.net/records/being.php
Dave promises me he will learn to play it on his banjo. Tweedy brought his usual sardonic sense of humor and bantered with (and abused) the audience treating us to hilarious stories about about his dad and how badly New Zealanders dance. Dave and I both agreed that this was one of the most insane out of control audiences we have ever seen--from crazy people shouting random nonsense to a very badly singing woman one row back who was driving of all nuts with her really pathetic singing. Tweedy always plays his heart out in concerts and he did not disappoint giving three encores the last without mic. Tweedy rocks--it was a fantastic concert. Set list (for myself really):
Set list
1. Spiders (Kidsmoke)
2. I'm Always in Love
3. Remember the Mountain Bed
4. Bob Dylan's 49th Beard
5. Jesus, etc.
6. One By One
7. Everlasting
8. New song
9. Someday, Some Morning, Sometime
10. The Ruling Class
11. Wait Up for Me
12. Muzzle of Bees
13. In a Future Age
14. Forget the Flowers
15. California Stars
Encore
16. Shot in the Arm
17. Via Chicago
18. Fake Plastic Trees (radiohead)
Encore
19. Wilco (the song)
20. Heavy Metal Drummer
21. Casino Queen
22. I'm the Man Who Loves You
Encore
23. Dreamer in My Dreams
24. Acuff Rose

California

What a very nice time Dave and I had visiting Carol and Ken in wonderfully warm and sunny California. Here we are taking a break in an oasis while hiking the famous Pushwalla hike in the Coachella Valley near the San Andreas Fault. Ken found the perfect place to rest and snack out of the sun. Dave and Carol posing by a lovely green bush (what was this called, Carol?) that grew up the whole cliff. So pretty! Below pretty desert flowers.

Cliff and Stan

Here finally is an entry for our much adored boys Cliff and Stan. As you can see Cliff loves being held and Stan loves beer and then napping on every cookbook I try to read.

Prom Pictures

Well, as promised here are the prom pictures. It was such a lame waste of money and time, but it sure is fun laughing at these pictures years later. Pictured are our my friends Candee, Jessie, and Jonathan. Now everyone has to post their prom pictures!

My first banjo tune

Ok...I'm putting myself out there for the world to witness my banjo prowess. Sit down now...keep yer shoes on and rest your ears awhile to the sweet tunes of none o'ter than yours truly. You'all come back now...ya hear?

Come on Cliffy! Go Fetch!

Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you the handsome and talented Cliffy! I must say that some cats have it and some don't...this cat's got "moxie".

Ken and Carol's Alaskan Halibut!

Ken and Carol went to Alaska and all they brought us...was a freezer full of Halibut! Boy is it some good eatin'! So fresh and delicious!

Old pictures of our hometown, Ladysmith, Wi.

I was recently exploring the Wisconsin Historical Society site and found some neat old photos of Ladysmith back when it was indeed a logging town.
The Flambeau River which snakes through our county (Rusk) and town is prominently featured in these old pictures. It is odd to think that the river I grew up swimming in was once all completely covered in logs.


Logging in Ladysmith: the industry that built our little town. Here you can see the Flambeau River.


The Carnegie Library which was kitty corner to the left from our restaurant, Audrey's Spot Cafe.


The mighty Flambeau River. Many a time Dave and I canoed up and down stretches of this river. Many times with girlfriends did we "go tubin'" starting at the dam by the paper mill and float all the way to the hospital. What fun! Oh, what our parents did not know we were up to those long, unsupervised summer days.




I grew up across the street from this very pretty school built in c.1908. It was first the High School, but was the junior high in my life time. It was surrounded by gorgeous sugar maples that were all ablaze with color in the fall.

Our Beautiful Bagels

Dave and I were looking for a new bread baking challenge this winter, so we decided to give bagels a try after overcoming flashbacks of our respective factory jobs from hell at Bagels Forever in Madison, Wi.!
We turned to our trusty source for bread baking, Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice (http://peterreinhart.typepad.com/) Dave quickly came to realize why this dough is known as the stiffest dough of the bread kingdom: he had to throw his whole weight into kneading it! It was quite a workout. Even though this recipe required a good number of steps, the bagels were not that difficult to make--it was in fact pretty fun especially the boiling and sprinkling of toppings. The results were well worth the work--they tasted amazing!
Anyway, here are some pictures of our first attempt. We hope to make them again soon!

Dave's purty new suit

Dave really needed a new suit and we recently found a great deal on a snazzy suit at Bloomies. After Dave's fitting we headed over to Forty Carrots where we enjoyed a splendid lunch of carrot soup, yummy sandwiches, and the most amazing soft serve frozen yogurt ever!!! You must try this yogurt!!! It was very Seinfeldian this yogurt--it's too good to be true!

Maiden Voyage!

Here we are sitting in the Arlington Heights Starbucks on a cold President's Day looking wistfully out the window wishing it were nice out so we could be outside playing. Alas!
So, instead I am learning to blog so we can post for the interested few our musings, travel adventures, and other happenings.

For example, brave Dave is expanding his musical knowledge beyond playing the tuba and violin to include banjo picking. Check back soon for a picture or youtube of Dave playing the only song he knows so far "Cripple Creek." (I'm sure Cherryholmes will be recruiting him once the word gets out about Dave's picking!)

This New England winter has been particularly brutal forcing us to stay indoors for most of it, so naturally we took to the kitchen! We have had fun learning how to make bagels! Our first batch looked so professional: puffy and lovely golden brown, but our second batch was not quite as good due to my own mistake of not making the dough stiff enough (live and learn). We hope to make them again soon--they are the best bagels we have had since moving to Boston where it's simply impossible to find a good bagel.

We are very much looking forward to visiting Dave's folks in Palm Springs! Look forward to hanging out with Ken and Carol, hiking, playing some tennis, watching some tennis at the BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells) http://www.bnpparibasopen.org/1/home/
We already have Rubios and In and Out Burger on the intinerary too!

Well, that's all for now, but check back soon for pictures!