Thanksgiving

 Our Thanksgiving was perfectly lovely! Truthfully I was thinking of taking the family to Chuck-A-Rama like we did a couple of years ago when only Monica, John and Isabella were joining us. The variety of foods was a big hit for everyone and the quality of the food was better than I remembered,  Chuck-A-Rama was one of George's Dad's favorite places. He made sure to get his money's worth by piling his plate high and even stuffing rolls in his pockets.

My original plan changed when Matt told us that he was not going to Wyoming with Cady to her Grandmother's 90th birthday because he knew we would be in Peru next Thanksgiving and he wanted to spend this one with us.  When I heard that I knew I had to fix a traditional meal with all the foods we love.

And that is what I did!

Turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, fruit salad and rolls.

Followed by cherry and pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream for dessert!

Served on the china my Daddy bought in Occupied Japan with the silver that was once my mother's, the water glasses that belonged to my great grandmother and George's mother's bread bowl. 

A multi generational table setting.

Isabella did the centerpiece and also helped with dinner preparations.

I googled 'best mashed potatoes' and found a recipe that called for a 2 sticks of butter for 5 pounds of potatoes.   Isabella cut them into small pieces and added them to the potatoes.  I told her to count to 20 between each addition and she very carefully did just that.

And the potatoes were definitely the best ever....tons of butter tends to make everything 'the best'.

I love these people more than I can adequately express.

Sure glad they are mine!

We followed this advice.

And we don't even feel guilty!

#1

At our church's Halloween/Harvest Party, there is traditionally both a chili and a soup cook off.  Last night I won 1st place in the soup category!  This means I get to keep the ward's 'rotating' trophy for the next year!

I do love to cook and I really love soup.  I have multiple recipes that involve cooking turkey or chicken for many hours before straining and picking the meat off the bones.  Some recipes call for me to make roux or roast peppers in my oven, to chop multiple vegetables, or to make a bouquet garni with fresh herbs.

Shh....don't spread the word about my prize winner!

First you brown a pound of hamburger meat and then add

2 cans of Progresso Minestrone Soup

2 cans of ranch style beans

2 cans of diced tomatoes

1 can of Rotel

Simmer it all together and then add some Italian Seasoning!

That's it!

Simple and easy is often best huh?

When my Aunt Mary Finch was sick in 2008, Mrs. Lucille Nix, a friend of hers, brought this soup to our family.  It was a favorite so she shared her recipe.  I wonder if she had any idea that it would be a prize winner in Eagle, Idaho.

Thanks Mrs. Nix!

 

Bread Tour

Other people go on 'wine tasting' trips.  I would like to go on a 'bread tasting' tour.

I never met a bread I didn't like!
 Just walking through a town and smelling the fresh baking bread makes me happy.....and hungry!
On our trip through Romania, we discovered Kovács Kalács. The name refers to the shape of the bread.  It is like a stove pipe or chimney - hollow in the middle.

Kovács Kalács are made from a sweet, yeast dough which is wrapped around a cone-shaped baking spit and rolled in sugar, then roasted over charcoal while being basted with butter.  It cooks to a golden-brown color and the sugar caramelizes and forms a shiny crispy crust.  Then it can be topped with cinnamon and more sugar or walnuts.  Understand why I fell in love with these?? 

To eat, you just tear off strips and enjoy all that sweet yumminess!  Anyone want to go with me on a 'breads of the world' tour? 1st stop Romania or Hungary!!! 

Chinese Food

 I have to admit that I am a big fan of Chinese food at Panda Express...so very Americanized Chinese food.  During our day in the water village I enjoyed several tastes of 'real authentic' Chinese food and mostly enjoyed it. I didn't try the crab on a stick...

The duck on a stick was also a hard NO....why do Chinese like putting things on a stick???? 

But I really did enjoy the bean paste wrapped in bamboo leaves and steamed...

The sweet and sour barbecued pork was good too...also wrapped in bamboo leaves. 

Wrapping in bamboo leaves seems to be the norm...they also had lots of yummy things with various kinds of beans that are green.  Not the traditional green beans we think of.  They were more like a green kidney bean.  They had several varieties of spices and I liked them all. 

Our cute guide named Bright didn't know an English name for these.  They were some sort of vegetable that tasted a bit like water chestnuts.  She called it 'water fruit'. 

Bright was a fun guide.  She is expecting her first baby in a couple of months.  We enjoyed our day with her even when she sang several Beijing opera songs to us.....Chinese opera is a definite unique sound and an acquired taste in music I think.  George noted that when she started singing, our driver put in earphones.  I guess he hasn't acquired the taste yet! 

Yummy?!?!?!

Normally I am somewhat of a picky eater.  I admit it.  I don't know what happened to me on the trip to the Napo River but I just had the urge to try things....

Like lemon ants!

Yes they do taste like lemon.  These ants actually secrete an acid which kills trees and plants where they don't want to make a nest.  That same acid gives them a lemony taste.

I quite enjoyed the meal we had in the little village.

 

The white stuff is catfish with heart of palm.  It was actually one of my favorite foods on the river cruise!  Our guide said that he knew that Americans don't eat catfish.  I told him that 'Southern' Americans do!  The yellow is a cooked plantain which was just ok.  The small light food near the bottom is white cocoa and it tasted great.  Near the top is a grub.  Yep, a grub.  A roasted grub!

 And I did eat one....and it tasted like bacon.  Really truly!

My temporary craziness did not extend to eating a raw, crawling grub.  First you bite off its head.  Now that was too much even for my temporary food insanity!  Our guide, Juan, grew up in the jungle and loved them.  Actually two of the men on our tour also ate the raw, living grub!  I had to draw a line somewhere!

Dinner Group

Six years!  We have lived in Lake Oswego, Oregon for 6 years! Never expected this move at all!  I worried about how it would be to move into a Ward with no children still living at home.  Would we find friends?  What kind of social life could we develop that wasn't centered around children's sports, schools and their friends?

Two invitations were the key to an easy adjustment to my new circumstances.  First two wonderful ladies invited me to walk each morning with them.  I can't begin to explain how those morning walks made me feel a part of Lakeridge Ward.  We often say that our 4 mile walk is as good for our souls as it is for our bodies.  So many problems discussed and solved!  So many laughs as we walk just like the postal service says, 'neither snow nor rain nor heat...can stop these ladies from their appointed rounds'!

Second we were invited to be a part of a dinner group.  Seven fun couples take turns picking a restaurant for a fun outing each month.  Instant friends in this 'Super Saturday Dinner Group'!

This month we went to the Stone Cliff Inn which is located right about the Clackamas River.  The setting is beautiful and the food delicious.  Threats of rain worried me all day but the evening was perfect.  Clear skies and a great mild temperature.!

 A good time was had by all!

 A very good time!

And on a different note....this is George's dinner!  A 36 ounce steak!  They called it a "Tomahawk Steak" for obvious reasons. He has enough meat for at least 3 more meals! 

I think he enjoyed it!

Argentine Dinner

And speaking of Monica, she is a great cook!  John is a lucky man!  One night she made us a typical Argentine dinner.

 Handmade gnocchi

Delicious but a lot of work!

Chicken Milanese which is breaded chicken served with a tomato sauce and melted cheese.  Yummy!

 

Very fun to taste a bit of her Argentine culture! Thanks Monica for sharing with us!

Southern Food

One of the fun part of my trip to the South Carolina with Mary was eating some of the southern food that I love.

Yes, we tried boiled peanuts!  I'd never had them before and they are really good!  The barbecue here was South Carolina style which means it was peppery and vinegary.  Different but I liked it!  Can't top the White Pig Inn in North Little Rock, Arkansas but it was good!  Going in Cooper's Country Store was like walking back in time!  And the hams smelled delicious!  I didn't try the hog head or the pig's feet though!

 Gotta love the south where macaroni and cheese counts as a vegetable!

Real fried chicken and biscuits almost as good as my Grandma used to make!

Shrimp and fried grit cakes!  My first time to try this but I'll definitely have it again when I can.

And one of my very favorites - Hush Puppies!  Delicious little balls of fried corn meal batter.  A taste of home!

I didn't get a picture of my grilled pimiento cheese sandwich with bacon and tomato.  But trust me it was heavenly!

And yes, I have been dieting since I got home!

A Very Happy 4th of July with # 22!

Started off our day with our traditional church pancake breakfast!  And ended it with a little picnic at Burgerville!

Foster guide dog #22 was a perfect gentleman at both events!  Laddy is a sweetheart!

And wahoo!!!  Burgerville has their famous onion rings again.  They are made only when Walla walla onions are available.  No frozen pre-made onion rings here! They are delicious, especially when dipped in aioli sauce!  Last year the season was short so I'm hoping for a LONG growing season this year!  How many times a week do I dare eat them?

Salads!

After 2 weeks in SE Asia where the only safe veggie is a cooked veggie, George and I binged on salads at Sweet Tomatoes.

Never has a salad tasted so good!

Thankful for so many things!

I'm thankful for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner that I didn't have to cook or clean up!

 Clever restaurants...gobble, gobble!!

Dessert tables with yummy choices!

Spending Thanksgiving with these three men that I love!

Having a new daughter-in-law that makes our son so happy!

Seeing our daughter and son-in-law creating such a great life together!

I do love life and I do see good days!

Black Sea #13 - A Taste of Turkey

Since we spent the majority of this trip on a cruise ship, we didn't really eat a lot of unusual food, a lot of GOOD food, but nothing too interesting.

Here are a couple of of exceptions:

Traditional Turkish ice-cream.  No it isn't like gelato.  It is made of goat's milk.  Feeling as I do about goat's milk I didn't want to try it but since our local tour guide was giving each of us a cone as a treat, I couldn't refuse without seeming like a snotty American.  I got lemon flavored which I thought had the best chance of being OK.  The first several bites were not bad but then that goat milk taste overpowered the lemon and seemed to coat my mouth.  I had the self control to not just spit it out but I did discreetly walk over and throw it in the trash.

Now here is something I did like...love in fact!  Anything with potato has to be good!

Take a potato on a stick and cut into spirals.  He was so busy cutting these that he wouldn't take time to pose for a photo.  This is an action shot!  I have a slightly bigger machine that makes apple spirals.

The potato spins around and comes out  in pretty little spirals still on a stick.

Then it is deep fat fried....

And you have fresh french fries or potato chips on a stick! Delicious!

You could also buy fresh cooked ears of corn.  Not exactly a place for someone on a low fat/ low carb diet!  But as you can see, we were happy people!

I sometimes think I should go on a 'Breads of the World' tour.  I know there are wine tours, why not bread tours?  Every place has its own type of bread and I've never tried one I didn't like.  Didn't get to try these but I bet they are good.

And finally don't you wish your local McDonalds delivered?