TNP closed at 1pm the day before Thanksgiving which is fantastic. The lovely Kristen (and her husband who doesn't read my blog) hosted this year in their new house. Our job was to make and deliver... My herby homemade bread. That recipe is here and I used fresh rosemary and sage from my garden in it and it's amaaazing. Mine never comes out that brown though and I *think* it's because I need a bread stone.Mashed potatoes. WM makes these and we stick pretty closely to Mark Bittman's recipe. ...
Thanksgiving wrapup
It's the holiday season, mofos! More importantly there's only about 3 weeks until the sunshine starts coming back into my life so cheers to that. This year we had Thanksgiving at my cousin S's house and I was asked to bring ... MASHED POTATOES. You guys. This was big, because mashed potatoes is one of the dishes that is mission-critical to the feast. I was honored and broke out my favorite cookbook -- Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything -- for the occasion. If this were a food blog, ...
Currently, summer night edition
Relaxing out in the yard. I feel like we did a lot of outdoor work early in the summer, such as planting grass and ripping out 10,000 dandelions and setting up herb gardens, so it would be a shame to miss out on enjoying it. I wanna sit under my own vine and fig treeA moment alone in the shade Remembering all the time I spent with family this weekend. Yesterday my cousin had a big ol' BBQ at his place, replete with food and beer and a firepit and strands of outdoor lights. I am a ...
Sniffly Monday
I had a draft for Friday 5, but I fell asleep. Such are the breaks. I was off on Friday. Unfortunately the temp topped out at 70 and the sun was barely out so to the shore I did not go. But! My dad's visiting from RetiredLand, FL, so I got to go out to lunch with him AND plundered my aunt's collection of old family photos. Later that afternoon I got some quality cuddle time with Nephew B. He's 3 months old now! Their mother - my grandmother - was born in the mid-20s. In one of the old ...
Sunday Five: The Shine of a Thousand Spotlights
Happy Sunday! Yesterday Mom and I had the honor of escorting Nephew A to an Easter Egg Hunt at Paws Discovery Farm. It was an all-day event and the staff replenished the eggs regularly, making for a bunch of thrilled little kids. Because Mother Nature hates us, the paths were snowy. In addition to watching A go into Egg Hunting Beast Mode, I got to feed a cow and pet some barnyard animals. I also stole some Nephew B snuggles. All in all a great day. :) *** You could not pay me ...
Stupid Sewing Tricks: Blanket for Nephew B
The Pinterest pin said it would take 30 minutes. It took three hours. But! It looks and feels like a baby blanket and I’m told newborn eyesight isn’t that good so it’ll be a while before he can grab a protractor and see that the corners aren’t very square. *** It's the first day of SPRING and it's snowing so hard we were let out of work early and are all working from home tomorrow. GRAR. ...
Friday 5: Mist It by That Much
We have a new nephew! For blog purposes, he is Nephew B, and his older brother is Nephew A. It works out really well that way. The lovely Kristen is doing well and my brother doesn't read my blog anyway so to heck with him. ;) Li'l B is snuggly, smells amazing, and has a great tiny smile. I can't wait to get him his own cape. I'm happy to have my small army of nephews! After 3 days of being offline due to some freaky voltage on the pole across the street that was interfering with our ...
Currently on a Sunday Night
Watching: America Ninja Warrior episodes from this summer. When I'm doing hard things, I picture Akbar Gbajabiamila saying "I SEE YOU KIM! I SEE YOU!" I'd like to have fewer heart-tugging background stories and more runs, but it's still a solid watch and I love the camaraderie. Healing: I ended up going to the doctor for my sore back and he prescribed anti-inflammatories and stretching. I think the pain is fading, but it's been a good 2 months now so maybe I'm getting used to it? I have ...
Fractured Fairy Tales
Woof. Finally the nonbloggable becomes bloggable - Mom (aka A-Woww) tripped and fell 2 weeks ago, fracturing her kneecap and shattering her elbow. The knee will heal on its own in an immobilizer which thankfully allows her to walk. The elbow required surgery. That happened on Wednesday and now the mending begins. While she's a bit more banged up than the ankle incident from 2011, it's not as bad because she's not bedbound. In fact, today we went to a bridal shower! And this time around ...
Currently, mid-April edition
Eating pounds of Easter bread that I baked this weekend. I am just a load of carbs, and I didn't even have any Easter candy. Waiting for our grass out front to grow. We seeded it 10 hours ago and COME ON ALREADY! We probably have the worst lawn on the street if you don't count the foreclosed house. It's not our fault...there was decades of lawn neglect and we're trying to reverse it. It's just going to take a long time and a lot of cleaning up. Weeding, getting rid of debris and ...
Florida travels
Longtime readers know that Dad retired to Florida about 10 years ago. I went down last September after Fall Business Trip #1, and decided to take a quick 4-day spring break trip this year. I mean, how could I pass up on this? The beaches there are 1) free and 2) much less crowded than the Jersey Shore. (Sorry, Jersey Shore, you are my default, but ... yeah.) These pictures were taken on an 80-degree Saturday. ...
Currently (post-party edition)
Today was my nephew's birthday party. It was Daniel Tiger themed, and if you are a person of a certain age and aren't exposed to Daniel Tiger, it's adorable. It's animated, but it's a Mr. Rogers Neighborhood of Make Believe, next generation. It's based around the children of the citizens of the Neighborhood of Make Believe. Too cute for words. The party was lovely, and I ate responsibly. I miss shoving multiple slices of cake in my cakehole, but it's okay. Because I'm... Losing: 24 pounds and ...
