What's Cooking?

I've finally made a recipe from Heather's site! I've been dying to try the meatloaf dish she wrote about a couple of weeks ago. My interest in this dish stems from the fact I've never made it before, but more importantly I've always been fascinated with meatloaf, for me it's has always been one of those exotic dishes of American nostalgia synonomous with picnics and apple pie.


Heather's recipe was surprisingly easy and very quick to make. My only regret was not taking her advice of taking the meat out a half an hour prior to preparation. I did not make potatoes with the meal as I did not have any in the house, so opted for rice and a side of vegetables. The kids loved it! Well, let me clarify that Henry loved it while picking out the onions and asking what the green things were (parsley), Rhys loved it while asking for more ketchup on his rice (which it turns out he ate exclusively), and Kenny was already dreaming up of a meatloaf sandwich for tomorrow. It is definitely a dish I will make again.


On another note with the holidays just around the corner, I am calling out to anyone looking for those really cute 'Cars' cars. My brother Ben has gotten his hands on sets and sets of these amazing miniature die cast cars and is willing to part with some of them.


Check the rest of them out at his site chynnamann.blogspot.com

Thanksgiving Break

I was excited to see that iTunes is offering Carol of the Bells by The Bird and the Bee as the single of the week. So hurry over to iTunes to get yours for free. I have just finished uploading the entire set of photos from our Thanksgiving trip. As usual I've chosen a few to post, for the complete set click onto the 'Day' heading. I promised myself that I would scribble notes to elaborate on later for the blog, but didn't, so I'm relying soley on my bad memory.

We were going to drive up Saturday, but instead had our preThanksgiving Dinner at my parents house along with my brother Ben and his family (Jamie, Dominic and Alyssa). The next day we attended a belated birthday gathering for Ethan's 5th BDay. We ended up leaving Monday afternoon arriving in St. Helena about 10:30ish. All in all it was not a terribly unpleasant trip. Both boys were actually behaving very well. I only broke out the DVD after an early dinner. They watched "Meet the Robinsons" which Henry ranked as 'just okay'.

This trip is one that we've taken every Thanksgiving since we've been married, and each year it just gets better. This year Jodie and her husband Diron, as well as Tim and Ben's younger brother Jack added to the festivities. We're very excited and looking forward to a new baby for Esther & Mike (and a baby brother for Christopher), and Katey & Jeb's wedding shower and wedding next year.

Day One

The next day we woke up and after a hour or so of socializing headed off on our own to explore the grounds. Tim, Ben and Jack were due in sometime in the early afternoon. The plans were laid out that we would all meet them in town and have a celebratory birthday lunch for Tim.


Unfortunately their plane from Chicago got held up by mechanical problems and things just snowballed. They in fact did not get in until the early evening, thus turning the birthday lunch into a dinner fiesta.

Day Two

Wednesday we all gathered at a park up the road for a hike. It's really very beautiful this time of year in the Napa Valley. Although much of the harvest is over you can still smell the strong aroma of grapes as you drive up and down the 29. After working up an appetite we headed off to lunch in Calistoga.


It was here while perusing the shops that Rhys found his replacement pair of Crocs in red. He's developed a fondness for the color red and will not wear anything other than his pair of red Crocs. His original pair is completely falling apart, there is a tear at the top of the right shoe where Kenny had hand sewn with fishing wire. So when we walked into that boutique and he saw the wall of Crocs he was in heaven. He headed straight for the red ones and amazingly grabbed a pair in his size.


With a few hours to spare before dinner Hilary, Emily and I decided to go explore our favorite shops on Main Street, St. Helena. Our first stop was at Model Bakery for coffee and then it was off to Woodhouse, a proverbial favorite for obvious reasons. I asked Hilary to take a picture of me in front of the store. She took several and this is the one I thought looked least like I was doing an ad for local tourism. Don't you think the caption should read, 'Why don't you take the load off and come visit our town for a cup of delicious coffee?' If you click on the shot you might get a glimpse of their spectacular Thanksgiving display. For a clearer picture go to the Woodhouse website.


Traditionally we do not eat dinner at the house the night before Thanksgiving. We usually go out for pizza in St. Helena, but this year to be different we all gathered at Taylor's Refresher.


I love Taylor's. They have really yummy food. So yummy in fact that there is a Taylor's Automatic Refresher in San Francisco and another in Napa is in the works. I ordered their Spicy Tomato Soup, a special of the day. This time of the year they have another seasonal specialty, Pumpkin Shake. I have yet to try it. We hung around Taylors for a bit, the air was brisk and we were happy to have monopolized the tables under the heating lamps.


Once everyone finished filling their tummies, we headed in different directions. Angele offered to babysit while the youngsters decided to go to the Billcos in Napa for billiards.


Day Three
Thanksgiving Day. When it eventually arrived it felt like it had come too soon. Here are pictures of the family boys


and girls


Day Four
This year we all decided to take the ferry into San Francisco.






Day Five
Our last day. We went to visit Uncle Patrick new office to check out an electric bike and then had breakfast with Mike before we headed back home.



PS Immediate plumbing problem has been resolved. Visit from plumber having to snake the pipes in from the top of the house: $185. Being able to take a shower tonight: Priceless.

Update

It's been an agonizing few days, going through all the photos we took over the holiday, but bear with me as I expect to post them later this evening. I'm trying to do several things at once, not my specialty.

An update on the general feel of things around here. We are having some minor work done on the house. This includes new doors and indoor and outdoor light fixtures. Because some of this work is in close proximity to the kitchen it's been a little difficult manoeuvring around the dust. And ontop of this the kitchen sink, tub, bathroom have formed an alliance and decided to strike causing a situation. They are backed up. And I'm not a happy camper. Hopefully this will be resolved later today.

Poor Henry has been inundated with work. As soon as he completes his homework assignment for the day, he has to tackle the bundle from last week as well as needing to correct a stack of assignments that need to be in to the teacher by Friday in time for, drum roll please... Report Cards next week!

On a brighter note, this morning I dropped off a set of holiday cards that Kenny's cousin Alston commissioned earlier this month. I had the bright idea to drop them off with her sister Michele, thinking Michele worked at the museum on Wilshire. Little did I know that her important work for the museum required them to have separate top secret offices on the westside. It was so intriguing to check out those digs! Unfortunately Michele was not there to greet me as she was called away to check on the status of a flooded storage area, but I did meet her coworker Jessica who was nice enough to invite me in for a brief look see. It was incredible to think off all the priceless paintings and artifacts that come and go from their offices! WOW.

Here's a shot of the cousins carousing on our San Francsico daytrip.


Cheers!

"Late..."

We got back from Napa last night. Am feeling so jet lagged (does this apply?) for various reasons including recovering from a virus that latched onto me the night we drove up. I'm sitting here with coffee in hand and heart racing. I have a nasty habbit of gauging the stress I will feel over the holiday season by how much I get done before Thanksgiving. And as of this morning I haven't done a single thing!

Oh, No Stewie!

This group of kids decided to use a Stewie doll in lieu of a ball. Ouch!

Miss Nicolette's Birthday Tea Party

Today is Nicolette's third birthday! We had a super fun time. Gus and Vel arranged for someone called Lizard Boy to come and entertain with his reptilian menagerie. We were a bit worried with the questionable weather forecasted for the day, but luck was on our side with a bit of drizzle before the skies somewhat cleared up.

The boys had a really great time reacquainting themselves with friends and examining the cool reptiles up close.

A return to toothpicks

We had our regular Thursday lunch with Grandpa today, Friday.


During our lunch we had an impromptu photo shoot. I've posted three of my favorites. Click here for more.


The writers strike has commenced! In this town it's impossible to get away from the news. Initially Kenny envisioned that the worst case scenario involved working through most of the negotiations with scripts at hand, and a possible very brief imposed hiatus before production would re-start. WRONG. The staff, sans the writers and their assistants, were told earlier this week that production could stop any day. I've told Kenny that no matter what happens we should have a positive attitude, and if there is a halt in production we should take it as a blessing in disguise and rest!

What is Today but Yesterday's Tomorrow? -Mr. Crabs

The past few days have been rather mellow, not much is really happening. I think we're slowly easing into the fall schedule. I remember school being like this for me as a child. The excitement of the start of a new school year in late August- early September, birthdays in October (we have many Libras on my side of the family), and then the spooktacular Halloween! After which things slowed to a snails pace until Christmas. Thanksgiving really didn't count for much since the most I got out of it was a slow four day weekend. This is what I'm feeling today, the snails crawl to Thanksgiving. From the chilly display of dreary overcast skies, the weather seems to agree with my diagnosis.

While driving around doing errands I noticed a cute little dog appropriately dressed for the cool climate.


This afternoon I got the chance to start a dialogue with someone on the topic of conspicuous consumption. This has always fascinated me. This person turned me onto a commentary by Peter Sagal entitled A Reality Check for Americans Obsessed with More that aired yesterday on NPR's All Things Considered. I've always viewed money as a symbol of security. But now at this point in my life having seen how fleeting life can be, I understand that money and the security it represents to be a state of mind, with everything being relative.

It's easy to imagine all the things you would do if you had a lot of money. For myself just knowing that the money is there would give me permission to live life on my own terms without fear. I'm not sure why this is so ingrained in me, when there is little fear for the immediate loss of any of the four essentials, but having witnessed so many catastrophes in the last few years, natural and man-made, it's easy to realize that no one is immune.

But what does 'a lot of money' mean? Or rather how much is enough? I've encountered a lot of people who appear to have a lot of money, and are neither happy nor satisfied. It brings to my mind an interview I saw recently with a woman who has cancer. She was asked how she is living her life differently knowing that her time is limited. Her answer was that cancer has given her the chance to fully live life, forcing her to do anything and everything NOW. She does not have the luxury of putting things off until next year. How wonderful would it be for each of us to be so cognizant of life on a daily basis? Because the reality is that not one of us has been given the promise of tomorrow.

Crime Scene?

Woke up relatively refreshed, probably because I conked out early last night. When I did awaken I immediately thought it was near midnight or a little there after, mainly because I have developed a strange insomnia since having the kids. I automatically wake up anywhere between 11:30 and 2:00, I assume my body thinks it's time to check up on them, nurse, whatever. It's now been etched into my DNA to wake up around that time, and if something is on my mind it usually keeps me up for an hour or two... oftentimes I figure as long as I'm awake I might as well catch up with Conan, Jay, Oprah or whoever else might be on. But nope that wasn't the case. I, in fact, for the first time in a long while slept through the night!

So I woke up refreshed and EARLY since we've turned back the clocks this past weekend. Makes you feel so on top of it when you are not rushing to get out the door. It was quite the leisurely morning, dropping the kids off without much problem and then it was off to my weekly Target run.

I was enjoying music from my iPod and did not feel like abandoning it once I entered the store, so I decided to find my earbuds and wear them as I shopped. This is the first time I've ever considered doing such a thing. I don't really like putting ear things on, and as a general rule think it's kind of rude, but oh well, what the heck! And you know what? It was fun. Like walking around to your very own soundtrack. My close friends will have no problem guessing who was on my playlist. Who am I kidding? Anyone with half a brain could probably figure it out. In my defense I've explained to Kenny that I only want to listen to music that puts me in a good mood, that makes me happy, music that reaches out and gives me a big hug!

It was in this good mood that I emerged from the store. I'm walking towards the car when I spot two police officers next to a car with all it's doors open. At first I thought one of the officers was issuing a ticket of some kind until I realized there was no one in the drivers seat, or outside the car other than the two officers.

I proceed to my car, which happens to be right next to the said vehicle, and continue to unload my purchases into the trunk. All the while I'm casually sneaking glances over, trying to figure out what was going on. They continue to sift through the contents of the car, and I realize at some point that they are both wearing blue latex gloves. So CSI.

I overhear the older officer radio in that he's found the son's telephone number amongst the paperwork discovered in the glove compartment. The younger officer is standing on the driver's side gingerly picking out the various bags found behind the driver's seat. One of which was a plastic grocery bag containing celery, and from the looks of it, had been in the car for a few days.

By this time I'm just jumping around inside. What I really wanted to do was rush up to them and ask, "Hey guys, what's up!?" but instead I approach them and casually say, "Sorry. I'm about to head out..." and wave a hand toward the opened driver's side door that was just a hair's breath from touching my car. They looked up and responded with a 'no problem' and closed the door for me to leave. WOW. I'm always so awe stricken when faced with people who deal with life and death situations on a daily basis as their line of work.

On a Saturday Night

We had a pretty uneventful weekend, laying low, catching up on some Zzzs and devouring the tail end of the first season of Heroes.

The highlight of our weekend has got to be our triple date with Gus, Velvet, Mike and Maria. We met at Lawry's under the guise of celebrating some belated birthdays. Gus (26th) and mine (12th).


We had a lovely time carousing with old friends while stuffing ourselves silly.

Wentworth & the Christmas Princess

I just got off the phone with Kenny. I called to let him know that Dalia emailed with the info on her play and when we might be going.

He asks me "do you know Wentworth..."
"Wentworth... no I don't think I know a Wentworth."
"He's on a show... he just came in..."
"Oh. Wentworth, from Prison Break?"
"I think so. He's doing a voice, and just came in. Had to show him some paperwork."
"You should tell Hilary. I think she watches that show. Did I ever tell you about that time in Palms Springs when she and Sabrina nicknamed their bartender Wentworth...?"

Actually I have a much funnier story. Last summer Fox devised a 'Wanted' ad campaign for the show in anticipation of the fall season premiere. There was a particular site belonging to the City of Lawndale, right off the 405S. This sign had the picture of the 'brothers' next to each other with "WANTED" above their heads. I don't know if many of you had the chance to see it, but it was very clever.


As I've written in previous posts we have a standing lunch date with my dad every week, usually on Thursdays. So all summer long we're driving past this sign not commenting on it at all when all of the sudden in, oh I don't know, maybe early August dad says "Boy those two guys sure look alike, they look like brothers." I agree, thinking he's also thinking that they did a good job casting the actors. Then dad adds "I wonder why it's taking so long to catch them." :O