Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Cooking All Day!

Well tomorrow is New Years Day and that makes tonight New Years Eve! I'm so smart like that!

I know that for many this is just a another reason to party and imbibe in far to many adult beverages. That being said, at our house, we find these days to filled with friends, family, food and fun!

This evening we will go to the home of a family in our church where we will enjoy lots of good food, fellowship, tons of board games and visiting. As for the food for this evening, Lynn and I will be providing BBQ pulled pork.

Some will come and stay for the whole time, until 12 midnight CST, while others will only stay for a bit. Makes no difference how long anyone stays but the fact they come and spent time together just having fun is the real key. As my Dad used to say, "It's midnight somewhere!"

New Years Day is the big tradition for Lynn and I, we generally have an open house for anyone who would like to stop by for awhile. This year will be especially fun with the Iowa Hawkeyes playing in a New Years Day Bowl Game, so we expect that a few will be here for the 10AM kickoff.

We are going all out on the food this year - Corned Beef & Clam Chowder! The clam chowder is the traditional dish for New Years at our house and the corned beef was a special request. Hope your happy Morgan!

One more food item....our friend Mary is going to make homemade egg rolls! Think about that - corned beef on bagels, a steaming bowl of clam chowder and a fresh pipping hot egg roll. New Years Day is the best!!!!

So I have been cooking all day. 6 corned beef briskets, BBQ pulled pork and most of the prep work for a double batch of clam chowder (I'll put that all together in the morning).

Got to go get dressed for the evenings activities and head out with the family. Now where did I put that extra lampshade????????

Have a very happy and safe New Years Eve! Talk to you next year!

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Belated Merry Christmas

Christmas has come and gone and I failed to wish everyone of my blog regulars a very merry Christmas! I am so very thankful for everyone who takes the time to check my blog from time to time. It is so nice to know that your interested.

With the demise of my Dodge Caravan traveling to Des Moines became a real issue. Our plans slipped into limbo!

Good friends to the rescue!!! I ended up with two options and our trip to Des Moines was back on!

Christmas eve day we headed out for our annual Christmas Eve time with Lynn's family in Ankeny. The crowd is really beginning to thin out but for those still able to attend we have a lot of fun!

Took the opportunity to attend Christmas Eve services at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Des Moines, it was great! Daniel and Amy went with me and we really enjoyed the service.

Christmas Day was spent at my Mom's in Des Moines. there was a good number from our family there and the food was incredible! This year we decided not to do a gift exchange in our family so we just had a great day of visiting and eating.

Friday morning we got up and after a great time with my Mom and one of her fantastic soup lunches Lynn, Susan and I headed out to spend a few days with Daniel, Maggie and Elijah in Oskaloosa.

What a great vacation - Spending time with family and friends and just being able to relax.

Talk to you soon and thanks again for thanking time to read!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Trouble in Fly Over Country

Another great cartoon submitted by my buddy Stickwalker:

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Monday, December 15, 2008

It's A Wonderful Life

This is my last submission for great Christmas movies for this year.

It's A Wonderful Life is a flat out classic! What more can you say, Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed are fantastic . The story is so very good on so many levels.

I'm still personally leaning toward A Christmas Carol as my favorite but this is a very strong second!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Busy, Busy, Busy

I just realized it had been a while since I posted to my blog so I thought I should say something...

This time of year we are all very busy, I'm not sure what the time of year has to do with anything, it seems to me we're all busy all times of the year.

I just spent a couple of days in Iowa City with friends that we're there for surgery. All went well and we're looking forward to a full recovery for them. Lynn got to go with me and she was battling the flu, we thought she was over it but a 3 hour car ride proved different. She was a real trooper and kept a very good spirit though it all. I thankful for such a great partner in ministry!

We traveled to Iowa City just ahead of the big winter storm in the North Iowa Area. In the process we lost the transmission in our Van and had to borrow a car to complete our trip. I'm not sure how we will proceed with our van, you know the story, big bills and small funds. Same old story!

One more item before I wrap this up for today, I will begin today teaching a speech class to a group of homeschoolers in the area here. We will meet a couple a couple of times a week and I'm really looking forward to this opportunity. I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Talk with you soon!

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Patience & Wisdom

One of the greatest secrets of life is having both - - Patience & Wisdom...


Oriental Cabbage Salad

One of our families favorite salads, easy to make and very tasty!!

ORIENTAL CABBAGE SALAD

1# bag of shredded cabbage & carrots (Cole Slaw Mixture)
2 Packages of Ramen Noodle Soup — Oriental Flavor
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1 cup salted sunflower nuts
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped green, red, yellow or orange pepper — if desired

Dressing Mix:
3/4 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda)
1/2 cup vinegar
2 Tsp. soy sauce
2 Seasoning Packets from the Ramen Soup

Mix all dressing ingredients and set a side. Shake from time to time to mix well.

1. Mix together in a large bowl the cabbage mix, onion and peppers.
2. Break Ramen noodles up in to small pieces.
3. Add noodles and nuts to cabbage mix.
4. Add dressing to salad and enjoy!

Notes:

If you mix it together right before you eat it the noodles will be crunchier but the dressing will be runnier.

If you mix it up a couple of hours ahead the noodles will be softer and there will be a bit less dressing.

You can also change out the nuts to what you prefer: Slivered almonds, cashews, honey roasted peanuts or whatever!

ENJOY!

A Year Ago Today

It hardly seems possible that it was just a year ago today, I broke my ankle/leg while deer hunting.

Slipping on ice got me a spiral fracture of both leg bones at the ankle. Surgery got me a plate, screws, pins and some really cool scars.

Recovery has gone very well and I'm back to archery deer hunting as well as going this weekend for the Iowa Shotgun Deer opener.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts and prayer over the past year!

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Dickens: A Christmas Carol

No one took the bait and made a comment about my post about "A Christmas Story" turning 25. So I'll try another of my favorite Christmas movies, Dickens: A Christmas Carol.

This is my all time personal favorite!

The real debate on this one is which version you think is the very best. In this discussion the different versions are referred to by what actor plays Ebenezer Scrooge.

Here are your choices:
George C. Scott 1984 TV
Reginald Owen 1939 Movie
Michael Caine 2002 Movie (Muppets)
Patrick Stewart 1999 TV

My favorite in the George C. Scott version, followed closely by the Muppet version.

What say you?????