Happy Sunday

What a great day...and it is not even over yet. We started out with Croque Monsieur for breakfast. Although I'm not sure Dan was sure about the menu choice he did enjoy them. Just layer black forest ham and guyere cheese on rich and thick potato bread and dip in egg/ milk wash. Make sure your 3-4 tbsp of vegetable oil is hot. Slice the sandwiches up into for finger size sandwiches and put into the oil in your frying pan. Brown on both sides and serve with your favorite jam. I did put them on a papertowel to soak up any extra oil.

Second part of the morning we were off to Marche Provisions for Wilder's second birthday celebration. What a special girl in her tutu and crown. What wonderful people to be around. Maricel and Tucker, Lily boo... So many wonderful families and friends to be there to support and love those lovely girls.

Grandma Judie had a wonderful surprise for Samuel, Emma, Evander and Lily boo. She received a wonderful gift and is taking all four of them to Disneyland for a fun time together at the end of April. What a huge blessing. They get to stay at a Disney hotel and share special time with Grandma Judie and each other. We are so blessed. These wonderful and loving children adore each other and I'm sure this time will be something to remember for a lifetime. Grandma Judie feels so blessed to have these children in her life. They help keep her young and happy.

a visit from the cute girls

We were lucky enough to have a visit from those adorable Teague Girls this weekend. They played and ate dinner with us while Mama and Papa had some time together. Oh they are so fun. My favorite is when Wilder makes "Unca Dan" play dollies.... Lily, Wilder and I had fun visiting Trader Joes and buying Jo Jo cookies.

Here is a picture of Wilder licking ranch dressing off her face...so cute. Lily of course is the charmer with her laugh eating some Auntie Patty Pasta.

I forgot the mashed potatoes

5 lbs of Red potatoes

6 oz cream cheese

5 tbsp of butter

3 cloves minced garlic (fresh)

1.5 cups milk

Wash and cut potatoes into uniform pieces and boil for about 15-20 minutes. Drain. With hand mixer add milk cream cheese and minced garlic. Mix until creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste. You will probably need 1.5 TBSP of salt for 5 lbs of potatoes.

Happy Holidays and Mashed Potatoes

We had such a lovely weekend. We started out on Wednesday evening at Aunt Lishy and Uncle Rob's house for the celebration of the Squire's 48th anniversary. What a milestone! Pop gave Susan the most beautiful roses. This is Dan's favorite thing in the world because Lishy serves up a big nosh so we can all eat until we cannot move. I ate so much cheese I couldn't eat any dessert.

Uncle Rob sets up the race cars in the garage so the kids could have some fun too. Keagan and Samwell had a great time!

Thursday morning it was up early to open Samuel's stocking and enjoy a little family time. Lishy gave us the most lovliest Christmas morning breakfast with hashbrowns, juice, coffee ring, and eggs. Samuel was thrilled with his new MP3 player and his XBOX live year long membership. Dan and Samuel spoiled me rotten with a new Nikon Camera and a beautiful new red vest. We then headed over to Grandma Judies' for our family Christmas baskets. Our favorite things including new Sonicares for everyone. She is concerned about our dental hygiene. On to our next stop at the Squires for a snack and circus of gifts. Susan bought us the dearest first year ornament for our family it is engraved with our names, the year and a photo of us. As we treked back across the city to Grandma Judie's for a yummy dinner with our wonderful friends and family. We were exhausted by the end of the day but boy was it worth it!

Christmas Spirit

Well we are moving ourselves into the Christmas spirit tonight. I've been more than unmotivated to get things started this year. With everything going on in our little lives today it seemed unimportant. The morning started by sitting in my chair and checking email. The doorbell rang and my landlord dropped off a Christmas card with a small gift. It was very sweet. The next thing I knew it was time for the Jets game. This is always a difficult thing for me. Dan takes the Jets wins or losses very much to heart. Sometime during the first quarter Dan started to send subliminal messages about waffles. He and Samuel got some waffles with warm cherry sauce on top to help the football game go down easier. It is an adjustment for me as football has not been a big part of my life in the past. Luckily the Jets pulled off a win today and Dan was very cheerful. Dan and I went to find our first tree today as a married couple and that did feel like a small accomplishment. Samuel decided to stay home. He is a teenager. We came home to put up our little Grand Fir. I must say I love the smell. Dan and Samuel worked to make the tree straight and string the lights. I was off to the kitchen to make some cozy chili and cornbread.

Patty's Chili
1 lb Groud Beef
1/2 lb Ground pork
1 Medium Onion
2 Cloves Garlic
1 Bottle of Beer
1 28 oz can of tomato puree
1 Can Red Kidney Beans
3 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce
1 1/2 cups of water
1 can Tomato Paste
Salt & Pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Tbsp Cumin

Place onion and garlic, finely chopped with small amount of oil in large soup pot or dutch oven Add gound beef and pork cook until brown. Add one whole chopped onion and both cloves garlic, finely chopped. Add Chili Powder and Cumin, Salt and pepper to meat. Pour in can of tomato puree, kidney beans and mix. Add bottle of beer and worcestshire sauce. Chop pepper and add to mixture. Let simmer for about five minutes. Add one can tomato paste and 1.5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for approx 30 minutes. Serve with corn bread and honey butter.

Now full we sit with our Christmas tree twinkling nicely with our colored lights. Dan and Samuel are watching Polar express in 3-D. They are very cute with their paper glasses on. I think the cat is allergic to the tree...she has started sneezing. I hate to say it but it is kind of funny.

Happy Holidays to one and all.......

Patty's Pot Roast Provencale

Dinner tonight:

3lb chuck roast
Herb de provence
v8 juice
garlic
onions
Yukon gold potato
carrots
white button mushrooms
worcestershire sauce
cream of mushroom soup
salt
pepper
vegetable oil
red wine ( or if you're not a wino like me use balsamic vinegar)

Although I know that no one in Provence would use cream of mushroom soup I thought I would post my twist to an all time favorite.

Rub roast with herb de provence and flour. Heat large skillet with 3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Brown roast on all sides. Takes about 10 minutes. Chop carrots, mushrooms, onion & potatos to about 1-1.5 inch pieces. Move Roast to roasting pan surround with veggies. Chop 5 cloves of garlic and sprinkle over top. Mix V8 juice, cream of mushroom soup and half cup of worcestershire sauce and pour over the top of veggies and roast. Add 1 cup of red wine and salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for 3 hours at about 325 degrees.

Busy Month

We are still trying to accept the fact that it is November. The rain is back and so is the cold. But we have great memories of our time in Hawaii. To the right is a picture of the sunrise on our first morning waking up in Maui. It was spectacular. Dan had never been to Hawaii and I was concerned that since he is not a sun lover that he wouldn't be too thrilled about it. Boy was I wrong. He loved it. Maui is a great low key place with tons of exploring, shopping and just relaxing. The relaxing part was my favorite. We had some fabulous meals! I think we ate a different cuisine every night. We found this funky little shope in Lahaina that sells birds, pot-belly pigs, and plants that are already inspected by the USDA so you can take them home on the plane. It was so fun. I thought Dan was going to bring home a pig named Linus. However, I think one of the birds was more attached to him than the pig. We are trying to get pictures together from the wedding to send out to our family and friends. We'll keep you posted.

Post Script:

Our family is dealing with some big changes...please send love and prayers their way. Grandma Judie, Paul, Nancy and the kids. We love you.