Another Year Has Ended, A New One Has Begun

This was the first year we allowed the kids to stay up to ring in the New Year.  In years' past, we have celebrated with another couple or with other family members, but since we recently returned from a traveling Christmas vacation, we laid low and stayed home.

Kyle grilled steak and we paired it with green beans and fresh, warm bread.  Since it was a special evening, the kids helped me dress the table with a tablecloth, complete with cloth napkins and our finest dishes and glassware.  We even brought out small cordials so the kids might enjoy some sparkling white grape juice, which was received with, "Ooh! it tastes spicy!" and "I don't like the bubbles, Mom!"

After dinner, we busted out Max's new set of dominoes and played Mexican Train.  It was Max's first time and he picked up the gist of the game pretty quickly.  He preferred to help others out forsaking his own line when he had a chance to play something better. There's no competitive spirit built up within him yet. In due time, I'm sure.

We enjoyed dessert of chocolate cake and cheesecake, then proceeded to watch Cate and Kyle shake an arm or something slightly recognizable as dance to Wii's Just Dance 3.  And sure enough, we couldn't have the countdown without turning to Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve Countdown.  Once it hit midnight, the glasses clinked, Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber were sighted and the kids were then promptly sent to bed without complaint. For the next day, we were opening our home to guests.

Every January 1, for what I believe has been six years now, we have invited a small group of family and friends to enjoy an Ebelskiver Breakfast and Aquavit to toast in the New Year.  Unlike last year, when we ran out of key ingredients before the kitchen officially closed, we made sure we had enough to feed those who stepped in the door.  This year, we made brunch for twenty-four, including ourselves.  The newest attendees were Kyle's friends Shawn and Kristen with their daughter Ivy, who is a sweet little girl.

The first arrivals were quickly put to work.  Jen and Tim helped lay everything out and Tim was supreme bacon fryer until the first batch of Ebilskiver was ready.  Then everyone else slowly made their way over and over the course of four hours there were three Aquavit toasts to the new year.  We closed the kitchen at two.

The Coleman family stayed the afternoon and we all played the day away.  The grown-ups played Mexican Train, which became increasingly more strategic as the rounds went on.  Max & Colleen put together an impressive pet store in Max's room and the three older kids scored high on Just Dance 3 and dug into the Legos, breaking only for lunch.

Friends, family, food, drink, games, laughter, and taking it easy.  All in all, it was a great close to one year and beginning to another.

Watching Twins in Post-Season

Calls for fondue and LOTS of wine.

Corn Meal

I think Max's favorite thing about summer has to be fresh corn on the cob. That little body has been known to take in three ears of corn. So whenever we go to the store, Max begs us to get corn and starts picking them out even before we can say yes or no. We've stopped saying no because he just sobs and who really can say no to a boy who wants a (starch) vegetable.


This evening we had marinated flank steak, roasted potatoes on the grill and corn on the cob. I will admit that I am still a novice cook, so I have to flip to page 380 in my Betty Crocker cookbook in order to remember whether I need to put the corn in before or after the water boils, how long I let the corn cook and whether it should be covered or not covered.


When Kyle said he was going to shuck the corn, I asked Max if he wanted to help. He jumped off the couch and said, "YES!" and ran out the back door. He concentrated very hard and peeled down three of the eight ears of corn, leaving Kyle to finish them off.

And to no one's surprise, all he wanted for dinner was corn.

Drink This, Not That

Alright...so a year ago, I realized and accepted I was back to being big. It has taken me another year to get worked up about it and have a desire to say good riddance to this big body. Ever again. With that, I am yet again an official card-carrying member of Weight Watchers. When I checked in on Saturday for the first time back at it, the gal noted, "Oh. you are a Lifetime member." I replied, "Yeah, I was a Lifetime member." She corrected me saying, "Once a Lifetime member, always a Lifetime member. Remember that. You'll get back to your goal weight." Judy's such a sweet lady.

I'm not going to get into the reasons why I feel more this time around than back in 2007 that this is the time I will lose the weight and keep it off. I just know my mind is clearer and more engaged with embracing a healthy lifestyle and maintaining better balance in my life.

I love my Caribou. Love, love, LOVE my Caribou. It grew from being a once every couple of weeks to an almost daily visit. I became such a frequent visitor they asked if they should have my drink ready for me to pick it up in the mornings. I politely declined and mentally noted that as a warning sign I was spending too much (money and calories) toward my love affair with Caribou.

Here's my old standard: Medium milk chocolate turtle cooler--640 calories, 35 fat grams, 74 grams carbs, 0 grams fiber. Weight Watchers points: 16

In recent months, I would have one of these daily. For a while, I even had a decadent almond croissant to go with it. I felt like I was "starving" by lunch, which was only 3 hours later.

My new standard: Small dark chocolate lite cooler--140 calories, 4.5 fat grams, 39 grams carbs, 10 grams fiber. Weight Watchers points: 2

Now, I will not restrict myself from ever having the old standard again; that would be disastrous. But I will save it for a real treat, such as my birthday, and savor it. Maybe I'll even put a candle on it and sing happy birthday to me!

Now onto the Playoffs

The Vikings cleaned up in their final game of the season against the Giants and thanks to the Cowboys beating the Eagles, we secured the #2 seed. I'll be very interested to see what team shows up in two weeks (the Sunday Night Football team or the Sunday afternoon team) and who we'll play. If a team can come in and upset New Orleans, I think we can make it to the Big Game in Feburary.

And what's up with the Pro Bowl being played in Florida on February 1? Hopefully our eight Vikings pro-bowlers won't be playing because they'll be focused on the Super Bowl the following Sunday.

On a slightly different note, we had apps duty for the final football game. I was feeling quite ambitious and Kyle was supportive of my efforts, so we made 4 new receipes and created a wonton themed spread--Mini Bacon and Cheese Quiches, Mexican Beef and Green Chilies Wontons, Crispy Chicken Wontons and Chocolate-Banana Wontons. We baked all of them, although the dessert recipe called for the wontons to be fried. We should've followed that direction. The quiches were okay; the chicken wontons needed some more flavor in the mixture (we think more soy sauce), but the beef and chilies wontons were very good.

It looks as though there seems to be some sense of adventure in me after all. Who knows what I'll do next?

A Saturday in October

We had a fun day today since it seems Autumn isn't quite over yet. The sun came back and the temps were in the low 50s, so pleasant enough to have family pictures taken outside. A guy who works in the photo studio opens his home for a Family Photo Day and books 30-minute photo sessions. One of his stylist buddies from set production comes over and prepares the scenes. It's really quite fun and a hell of a deal. You get your 30-minute session, about 75 shots are taken and saved on a disk which the family gets to take with them. While Kyle and I had good expressions today, we just couldn't get Max to crack a smile and Catherine either had her hair in her face or slouched down. Oh well. Below you'll see one of the keepers. The kids got to wear their Star Wars t-shirts, so we also brought the light sabers. Catherine had a blast during those pictures. And Max? Well, he just stood there with a blank look on his face.

While waiting for this disc to load, I chatted it up with Jerry the photographer and his wife. While discussing the fantastic weather of the day, I became inspired to hit the apple orchard. We had a good time, albeit somewhat on the spendy side. We brought home a nice variety of apples and a couple of pumpkins. When we were down one row of trees, Kyle bit into an apple. After seeing Kyle do that, Max wanted a bite. So Kyle gave him his own apple to eat. I am fairly certain it was the first one he had eaten off the core. He dripped of apple juice, but his "mmmmm"ing really made for an audible treat.

After a somewhat dramatic dinner where Max refused to eat anything, Max and I got dropped off at home while Kyle took Catherine for an ice cream treat. I started to peel apples for Apple Crunch and put the peelings on some old newspaper. Max snuck up and tried to take some of my sliced apples and I saidn "no, but if you want these peels, you can have those." I didn't honestly think he would take. But he did and he ate up each and every peeling I cut off three apples.

Kyle and I settled in to watch some post season baseball after the kids went to bed and we had our first bites of the fresh-out-of-the-oven apple crunch. It was so fantastically good. It's hard not to have more!

(It may not look like much, but really...it tastes fantastic!)

Here's the recipe:

3 medium or 2 large apples, peeled and sliced (I use Granny Smith or Haralson)
3/4 c brown sugar
1/2 c flour
1/2 c quick cooking oatmeal
1/2 c butter

Arrange apples in 8" greased square baking pan. Combine oatmeal, sugar and flour. Cut in butter. Sprinkle over apples. Bake at 350* F for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm with milk cream or whipped cream. Serves 4-6.

Sunday is Football and Family Day

I can not believe that I haven't written about game day since I started my blog. We are Vikings fans--100% (okay, I can not attest what team(s) Carl and Clair follow, but they don't live in Minnesota anyway). I don't know if we would allow a marriage in our family to a Packers fan--it would be just too incompatible and downright ugly on those two match-ups each season. It would be worse than a Catholic marrying a Lutheran--uff da (truly this is a joke--my Dad was Lutheran before he married my Mom, Kyle was Methodist when I married him)!

Gosh, about 12 years ago, eldest sister Jeanine started the tradition of building the season calendar and everyone would bring one appetizer or sweet treat to the Bassett home and watch the game together as a family. Back then, 3:00 and later games were pizza games. Each family would chip in $5 per head.

The weekly pot-luck eventually got cumbersome, so we moved to each household "owning" a noon game and bringing the entire food spread. Pizza games were still at 3:00 and evening games were preceded with a full dinner typically made by Jeanine or Mom.

Unless otherwise specified, all games are still at the Bassett home. When the Bassetts were in Switzerland for three years, we all took turns hosting at our homes. That carried on into the first season the Bassetts returned, but I'm pretty sure we have now settled in on the Bassett home or Mom and Dad's home for family celebrations, such as today.

Tuesday is Jeanine's birthday, so the family got together for game day in the parents' basement. There were 17 of us, 9 adults, 8 kids. Mom got a little carried away with the food, making sure she had some of Jeanine's favorites: taco dip and chips, corned beef cheese ball with crackers, cheese, sausage, apples, grapes, m&ms, peanuts, puffcorn, bacon wrapped 'lil smokies, veggies and dip, I'm sure I've forgotten something... At least we were able to stop Mom from making chicken nuggets because there was plenty of food and the kids were already done eating before she wouldn't even gotten them in the oven.

Baby Howie, Brooke, Steve, Jeanine

Jolene, Nick, Papa, Eric

What's left of the food

Even though this is our weekly get together and there is some chatter catching up with what everyone has been up to, we actually watch the game. And what about the kids? They are left to their own devices, and for the most part, they know the drill and don't walk in front of the TV during an active play.

Millie, Cate, Henry, Jack and Max playing legos

The Vikes are off to a good start being 2-0. The first half has been challenging to watch as they don't break out until the second half. I am sure hoping the Favre deal is worth it. I am thrilled he's here, despite how odd it is seeing him in a Vikings uniform. We have a better shot with him than without him to go pretty deep into the post-season. And how awesome is Adrian Peterson?

We are ready for some football!

Mass in the Park and All Parish Picnic

I recently became a Ministry Leader for Parish Life at The Church of the Visitation in Minneapolis. My first big gig was to chair the planning committee for the Mass in the Park and All Parish picnic, a parish gathering we hope will become an annual event. Because we are in the Midwest, the weather can get questionable in September (the avg high is in the mid-60s), but we chose this particular weekend because our parish played host to two delegates from the Kitui Diocese in Kenya. We felt what better way to introduce our new friends to summer life in America than to enjoy a good old-fashioned picnic.

Fortunately, God blessed us with the perfect day. It was mostly sunny with a slight breeze and the bugs weren't too bad. About 75 people attended the outdoor Mass and another 20 parishioners showed up for the picnic after Mass.

Father O'Brien (r) presenting Father Mitui (l) the stole hand-painted with Visitation Icons, the State bird and State flower

Jolene presenting the Readings

The congregation

Kenyan friends singing "We Come to the Table" in Kiswahili

The picnic dinner was catered in by Picnics Plus and there was an abundance of delicious food--hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, baked beans, potato salad, watermelon, three varieties of cookies and fudge brownies; coffee, lemonade and water.

The abundant food

Four out of five in this photo are enjoying the picnic

We decorated the pavilion with strings of lights, raised halogen lights up in the middle pillar and set the picnic tables with candles and provided mini flashlights to use as needed after the sun set. We also lit the way back up the hill to the vehicles with solar lights and more candles. It was a beautiful sight that I couldn't capture in pictures.For entertainment, there was face painting, temporary tattoos and glow sticks for the kids (and adults alike!) and a sing-along after dinner led by our choir director.
There were so many positive remarks, I am confident the event was a success and that people will be looking forward to next year's event. It should be another good time...

Comparisons to Kirstie Alley

Hearken to the days when "Cheers" was not syndicated yet. People who first met me told me I resembled Kirstie Alley. Tall, skinny Kirstie Alley mind you; with no neck, beautiful lips, long, gorgeous hair, the over-the-top hand gestures, the whiny voice, and stomp-stomp-stomping out of scenes because Sam Malone has irritated her to no end. Back then, I didn't mind being called out as resembling Kirstie Alley.

These days I mind.

But like her, and like millions of people, I struggle with my weight. I worked hard to lose almost 50 pounds in 7 months. It's almost all back. Just short of two years later. I just knew when I started Weight Watchers that I could lose all the weight. I was never confident I would embrace the entire lifestyle change necessary to make it stick. Same song and dance as everyone else, so no need to feel sorry for me or give me a pep talk. I get it.

So here I am, back to square 1.2. And not sure if I'm going to do anything about it.

But, just so you know, I'm back to big. In case you see me.

Goin' "Down Home"

These days, we find ourselves going "Down Home" for family reunions or funerals. Today we went down for a funeral. My Great Aunt Hannah passed away at the age of 93 after a brief illness while in the hospital recovering from successful surgery. Fortunately, until two weeks ago, she was feeling fabulous, so we are blessed to have had her on this earth for so long. The service was lovely, honoring my Great Aunt perfectly.

The funeral was out at a country church in Southwest Minnesota. I, Kyle, my brother Eric, sisters Jolene and Jeanine and Jeanine's son, Nick all traveled down in one vehicle. It has been a long time we adults have been together to just visit, so a combined six hours stuck together in a car was really an enjoyable time.

It was an incredibly gorgeous day with a light breeze and not a cloud in the sky. It's no wonder why it's always so nice to be down there, no matter the reason.

The cool thing about small town funerals is the familiar environment it offers. Everything you could imagine about a cliche church basement luncheon was exactly on point here. As we entered the church, we were greeted by the wafts of hot-dish. Yum! One could hear the glass dishes clinking against each other and the folding chairs skidding on the floor as the ladies from the funeral luncheon circle got everything set while we filed into the church. After the service and interment, we proceeded to the church basement and found a spot at one of the many tables practically set with plates, water glasses, coffee cups, coffee carafe, creamer powder, sugar packets, water pitcher, salt and pepper packets, a pickle / relish dish, a salad bowl, a basket of buttered breads / buns, and a glass platter with a variety of homemade cupcakes.

The salads varied from table to table. Most were some variety of jello salad. Some had fruit set in the jello, others had fruit and whipped cream creating more of an opaque jello salad. Our table had a fruit salad dressed in something I wasn't sure about. It was the sort of salad where many, many cans of fruit cocktail were cracked open and tossed along with mini marshmallows into the right-sized goldenrod Tupperware "fix 'n mix" bowl.

When the "Amen" concluded Grace before the meal, the hot-dish made its arrival to each of the tables--scalloped potatoes and cubed ham. The cheese sauce was added on top of the piping hot sliced potatoes which caused some slight scalding. Oh well...it didn't matter...it tasted like carb heaven going down.

After a while, someone from another table came holding a salad and inquired about swapping bowls, which we gladly agreed to the trade. In return for our fruit cocktail salad, we got a cherry jello salad with raspberries set in and whipped cream frosted on top. It was a refreshing finish to sooth the tongue burnt from the hot potatoes.

Back to that glass platter of cupcakes...there were probably four or five different varieties on our platter alone--a yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting, a white one with pink frosting and m&m's on top, a white one with marshmallow cream frosting and sprinkles on top, and my absolute favorite--a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting. That was one of my grandma's specialties. I took advantage of that sentimental moment and informed my mom that I would like a chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting for my birthday in October. It was very difficult to have just one. We made sure Nick, my 13-year old nephew, ate three cupcakes and my brother Eric ate two cupcakes so the platter was empty as we left the table to visit with other family.

Kyle's remark about the luncheon? "I see they don't really take diabetics into consideration when planning their menu." Oh well, that's what the insulin is for, right? :)

When saying our good-byes, we were told by Hannah's son-in-law that we should be sure to stop by Hannah's farm to see her beautiful lily gardens, which we glady obliged. I wish I had gotten a shot of those gardens; they were stuffed with gorgeous lilies at peak blooming, it was so wonderful to see those beautiful garden beds which gave her such great joy.

And because we were down in the area, we made the wide circle and drove down through Storden. We noticed the playground on the old school lot is now over-grown with weeds. We reminisced about the time I did a header down the tall slide with Jeanine on watch and another time when Jolene tied my shoelaces in double-knots on the merry-go-round and told me to ask my really good-looking second cousin to rescue me who was on his way down to shoot hoops. I am not sure why all the memories were related to me, but ahhh, the good times...

We drove by my grandma's house appropriately situated on Pleasant Avenue. It looks great and someone seems to be living there, which is a positive thing since many of these little farm communities are slowly fading to nothing.

Something very cool is changing the landscape down in the farmland; huge wind turbines are dotting the horizon, their powerful arms perfectly rotating with the swift prairie breeze. This is great potential for the future sustainability of the community and a positive step in maximizing alternate energy solutions.

Even though it was a time of sadness, it was also a time of thankfulness for the simple things in life--family, generosity of community, God's beauty in nature and fantastic church basement luncheons.

No winner-winner chicken dinner

We eat out embarrassingly too often and it's ridiculous the time and money wasted on mediocre chain restaurant food. So I'm trying to us get back on the homemade dinner practice.

Clearly, as a working family with two young kids, there are two important things at stake:

1. It's got to be picky-eater proof
2. It has to be quick as we get home at 6pm

Tonight I turned to a recipe on the back of the Lipton Savory Garlic and Herb Soup Mix box:

Parmesan Crusted Chicken
1 packet Savory Herb and Garlic Soup mix packet
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp bread crumbs
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine soup packet, mayo, cheese in a bowl.
Brush mixture on both sides of chicken, then coat with bread crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

It fit my criteria perfectly. Kids love chicken, the prep and cook time is around 30 minutes. So I prepped it up, got it in the baking dish and then noticed I forgot the soup packet. I figured, what harm could it be to just pour it over the top? Bad idea. It never reduced in intensity, nor did it mingle with the juicy chicken, so that is all one could taste. Fortunately, it was easy enough to scrape off and eat the chicken without some of the breading and it ended up tasting pretty good. I'm looking forward to preparing the recipe correctly sometime and see if it's the perfect mix of parmesan and savory herb and garlic bliss.

Oh, and we also had some noodles and peas to round out the meal. Not exciting, I know, but it got the job done.
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Now I know I can go online to plenty of culinary sites and source top-rated recipes. But I thought it would be better to put it out to you and see what kind of recipes you have to share. Drop a line and let me know what you've got. I'm sure everyone would appreciate a new recipe or two.

Mmmm, tasty!

It's no wonder I am a tad off from my goal weight these days. The cafeteria at my work has some awesome hamburgers and onion rings. In fact, their onion rings make my top 3 for most favorite onion rings. As for the hamburger, it's all about the bun. Soft and fresh.

Now before you go and knock me for my Diet Coke can shining next to my styrofoam to-go container, there is an actual non-diet-related reason for drinking it. Whenever Kyle and I went out to dinner while dating (over seventeen years ago), he would order a Diet Coke due to his diabetes, and I would order a Coke. More often than not, they would server Kyle the Coke and me the Diet Coke. You know, me being a girl and all. I got tired of switching it around, I just opted to start ordering Diet Coke as well. Now I can't even drink Coke Zero because it tastes too sweet to me.

Mmm, those o-rings were mighty tasty!

Now that you know what's on my favorite food list, what's on yours?

Have a great weekend.

Sandwich anyone?

I need your advice...Cate can be a picky eater (shocking, I know!). Knowing she eats her packed lunch from home has been hit or miss. For the past three days, she has brought home the leftover sandwich with only two or three barely recognizable nibbles out of it. I also pack either applesauce (the only "fruit" she will eat) or vanilla yogurt (the only flavor she will eat) and occasionally one other thing, such at pretzels or cookies.

I make sure she helps make the decision of what goes into her lunch and ask her to promise she will eat everything. As you can imagine, the pretzels or cookies always get eaten and I presume the applesauce or yogurt are fairly well taken care of. Since the pretzels and cookies are always eaten, but the sandwich is not, I have taken those out for now. So she is left with two things for her lunch.

I also occasionally send her Spaghettios and meatballs which she does a pretty good job eating. I sent her Lunchables a couple of times and that was an absolute disaster. And I'm not sure she would find anything she would like to eat from the cafeteria selections.

So...do you have any advice for how I can get her to eat the right things I pack in her lunch? Do you / did you have trouble with your kids eating their lunch at school?

Other things from this past week

It's been a while between posts and things have been pretty busy around here.

Monday was our niece Thora Beth Jensen's first birthday party. It was celebrated during a waffle breakfast. She wouldn't even touch the whipped cream on the waffle because she doesn't like to get dirty. I foresee an easy potty-training phase for Kurt and Amy.

Last Tuesday, I attended my first Parish Pastoral Council meeting. I have signed up for a three-year term. Kyle is opting to refer to me as Madam Councilwoman instead of Madam Secretary. Ha!

Wednesday night, Cate enjoyed celebrated her cousin Matthew's 5th birthday by going to the Park at MOA with him. He didn't want to go on any of the rides, so she went on them without him. Afterwards, Matthew's mom hosted a party for him at McDonald's.

Thursday marked Cate's first day of school which was incredibly successful.

Also on Thursday, an announcement was made at work regarding yet another position change for me. I am swapping positions with a counterpart who will take over Email Marketing. Effective immediately, I am now the Manager for Online Programming which oversees the promotional presence and on-site search optimization for our website. I have a team of three which will soon increase to four. I am reporting to a guy I have worked for in a previous position, so I know exactly what to expect in that regard.

Friday night, my back went out while I was hoisting Max into bed by his diaper butt. Fortunately, Kyle hadn't left the house yet, so he helped me out and got the kids to bed.

Saturday, we entertained Kyle's parents and aunt for dinner. It wasn't the most flawless evening in the world. We barely got the house "fake-cleaned"; we hadn't started our food until they arrived; Jane couldn't eat 2/3 of what we prepared; Max played his usual antics of not cooperating at bedtime. After our guests left, I started having back spasms that I was more than willing to exchange for labor pains.

Today we stayed home and watched a lot of NFL at home while eating heartily. I promise to start counting my points again tomorrow.

And here we are, closing out one week and looking forward to another. Hopefully it will slow down soon. But somehow, I doubt it.

Another Fair Day

Today I went back to the Minnesota State Fair with Kyle and Cate. The original plan was for Kyle and I to ditch both kids and go on our own. But Cate begged and I relented (document that!) with some ground rules--she will not be carried and she will not whine.

We dropped Max off at Jeanine's house and we were at the U of M campus and on the bus around 11:30. Everything from the bus ride on was so exciting for Cate. Having her with us ended up as a benefit as it ensured that we would enjoy a slower pace going around the fairgrounds.

We ate:
*Footlong hot dog
*Brat with pepper and onions
*Chocolate malt
*Sweet Martha's cookies
*Cheese curds
*Pronto pup
*Tiny Tim mini-donuts
*Pizza bread
*Gelato

We enjoyed the livestock barns, the Sky Ride, the Giant Slide, walking through the many building and watching a couple of shows in the 4-H building and at a couple of free stages. We even happened to be walk opposite Al Franken and he stopped for a photo op with another family. Kyle took the chance to shake his hand.

Cate's favorite part of the day was getting a "Fair-do." I wonder what the parishioners will think when she shows up for Mass.

Me and Cate on the bus
The Jensen Family Snowmen
Cate and Kyle in the Sky Ride GondolaView from the gondola

The Giant Slide

An Al Franken sighting

Cate and her "Fair-do"

The Great Minnesota Get-together

Thursday was the first day of the Minnesota State Fair. This year, I went with my two sisters and we had a great time. Everything cliche about the State Fair is correct:

• just about every food is served on a stick (ironically, of everything we ate, only the pronto pups the girls ate were on a stick)
  
• there is a blue ribbon for everything
  
• it is a prime place for serious people watching
  
• you see everything from livestock to every possible radio station and tv station in the local area
  
• the politicians like to stomp

We covered a lot of territory in six hours. At the end of the day my feet were quite sore, but I can't wait to go back again.

Left to right: Jeanine, Jolene, me

Aussie Pride

Australian Battered Potatoes with ranch dressing and cheese sauce

The great Cheese Curd booth in the food building

The crowds never end

The brave faces trying the newest food at the fair: chocolate-covered pig lickers
Chocolate-covered pig lickers close-up
One of the many demo booths
Me and Jeanine taking a short break
A fascinating Blue Ribbon winner...seriously?
Already dreaming of a White Christmas

Mmmm, dessert

Kyle has had cheesecake on his mind all weekend long. There is no finer place in these parts than Cafe Latte on Grand Avenue. So this evening, we hopped across the river to enjoy dessert. I didn't have cheesecake, which should shock many people who know me. I opted for a double chocolate pecan torte, which you can't see under all the whipped cream. The cupcake was devoured by the children in short order. Yum!

Fabulous dinner and guests

We are sitting back and feeling pretty good that our first monthly dinner evening was a success. After Max's birthday party back in April, I decided I'm still not comfortable enough with entertaining so I proposed we invite people over for dinner once a month. We are alternating the choice of who to invite. Last month's evening had to be postponed due to Kyle's hospital visit. This evening, I chose to invite Kristine and Michael Callaghan, friends of ours from church.

My intention of this evening would be an adults only affair, so my parents were kind enough to keep the kids for a sleepover. If it hadn't worked out, we would've survived, but the evening might have swirled a little more around the kids. Since the kids were not here, we were able to relax a little more and focus solely on our guests.

This was our menu...
Starter:
* Caprese salad paired with Bernard & Griffin Columbia Valley Chardonnay

Main Course:
* Pork Chops stuffed with proscuitto, pepperoni, provolone cheese and fresh basil
* Coleman roasted potatoes
* Italian grilled asparagus (brushed with an olive oil, lemon juice and garlic mixture)
* Ciabatta bread
* All paired with Saldini Pilastri Rosso Picano (an Italian red wine)

Dessert:
* Mixed berry sorbet garnished with fresh blueberries and raspberries

Overall, I think the meal pulled together nicely. The timing and pace moving from the starter to main to dessert was good. Everything from the Main Course was cooked on the grill. Each item sounds pretty impressive, but everything required five main ingredients or less (excluding seasonings) and was rich in flavor, yet simply delicious. I can't really comment whether the wine pairings were appropriate or not. Since I am a novice wine drinker, I relied on the wine guy's recommendations at the liquor store to make a selection. They tasted fine to me and the Chardonnay is completely gone.

Thanks for a lovely evening full of great conversation, Michael and Kristine. We look forward to the next time.

In August, we will be entertaining Kyle's parents and Uncle Cliff. They were to be our first guests in June, so it will be really nice to have them finally over.

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Let me know if you would like any of the recipes.

Something you should avoid

I would strongly recommend refraining from carb-loading less than thirty minutes before you run. Because you kinda feel sick when you are running.

Yeah, my bad.

I had leftover gnocchi and Chicken Parmesan from Maggiano's for dinner. Then we left for the lake. Kyle took Max in the stroller and Cate on her bike and they headed one direction around the lake, while I went the other direction. It's been a while--over two weeks since I really had some good exercise. So I ended up walking a couple of times. Still, I made it around the 2.75 mile lake in approximately 33 minutes. I'm okay with that.

And I learned my lesson.