November Drizzle

Lots of folks are out and about in the hustle and bustle of Black Friday.  But me and mine are chillin at home with the left overs…soup to make….sandwiches to lunch on….cream to be topped on…libations to be sipped on and games to be won or lost.

Yes, we had the cribbage play-off I think I was the champ and Yahtzee it ended in a tie with 2 for me and 2 for A, P 0.  M was sad that he was left out so we restart the game and  asI was explaining the options are like poker…3 of a kind…full house… as many…..”No, No, No, This requires too much thought”  and back he went to his computer. 

He did reheat dinner for us….lots of soup left but the turkey is pretty much history.  Now that’s a November to remember.

Yummy Yummy but no photo

Our family enjoyed a wonderful meal. …thanks to all for the help….I was in charge of the turkey and he wasn’t cooperating.  So dinner was delayed but delicious.  As everyone else tackled the dishes I took the boys out in the wet grass for a walk.  William was on my a shoulders, Harry had two trucks that he wanted to dig in the dirt with but he was a good boy and listened to his Memere.  William was happy up top for a while but soon he started to wiggle and I put him in the little green car.  It has a tow rope now and that was fun for both of us.  Now it was Harry’s turn for a ride but he is soooo big he has to sit parade style, like the mayor on the back with his feet on the seat.  So I thought what a photo op….. put Will in front…..  E was there now with her camera by now…. however Will was not going to sit there and he won the struggle. 

Last week after baby sitting A asked about pictures and I just didn’t get any.  I didn’t even take it out.  I still carry it always ….but photo ops are few and far between.

Me and My Camera

What have we seen? 

 M’s back has been pretty bad now for two weeks (drs, xrays, MRI, the pharmacy) I’ve been doing most of the driving leaving little time for much else but I did score a few photos.

 It is intersting to note when I took this photo I did not see the shadow.  So much for my powers of observation.

I like this Coke vs Pepsi, because I wonder who is winning that battle.  Being a Coke-a- holic myself I don’t know what pepsi brings to the fight . Coke being invented first does have that advantage.  Pepsi didn’t come along til 7 years later.   There was a Pepsi distributor in Taunton and the garage down the street from me sold Pepsi so I have experimented with it, but Coke’s the one for me.  So is the lower price a sign of superior product or are the chasing Pepsi’s tail so to speak.

Julie, Julia, and Me

I really love cooking shows.  Especially the shows with contests, i.e. Iron Chef and the The Next Iron Chef.  I think it makes these professionals more like real cooks who splash and drop and set things on fire while trying to cope with everyday life.  The ticking clock is reality creeping into their world of a perfect pantry.  So they have the best equipment, the best ingredients, but they have to get it done in 60 minutes with help from very capable friends. 

Hey everyday cooks do so much more with less.  And isn’t that the way things are now. 

Any way I’m reading Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and I really like it….better than cooking shows.  This is real cooking, in a real kitchen, in a real world, with a bit of laughter and craziness for good measure. This is my book of the year and I’ve waited so long.  I might even cook something French.

Birdly Morning

Well my efforts paid off….yesterday I cleaned up all the sunflower stalks, cone flowers, pumpkin vines, and tackled the weeds.  I wanted M to use the backhoe to grab all that mess and haul it away.  The ground is still a bit wet and today’s sun should make the whole process a bit less muddy; so we have piles of debris waiting to be picked up.   But the birds are having a field day this morning.  Juncos, Carolina wrens, chickadees,  are everywhere chirping and hopping about.  There are tons of seeds on the ground and they seem to enjoy weaving in and out of the bulldozer again.   The warm temperature of 49 is adding to their enjoyment, mine as well.

Another Frosty Morning

A frosty 28 this morning at 6:00am, but sunny now so I’ll be outside today, raking leaves and cleaning up the sunflower stalks.  I was surprised to see so many seeds still in the heads; usually the goldfinches clean them out , but not so this year.  I’ve heard this is a great year for the wild berries and the birds are still in the wood living the carefree life.  They don’t need to visit the backyard bird feeders yet.

Oh and I saw a pileated woodpecker in Sterling, MA yesterday.  I was so excited…sorry no photo but I’m working on a sketch.

November

Ah November…the warmth of the summer sun is replaced by the warmth of  families  gathering and the smell wood smoke in the air. 

The days are getting shorter and we’re spending more time indoors.  So now that means fall cleaning and fall cooking .

Last night we had chicken and dumplings and a tiramisu of sorts.  M had bought a bag of lady fingers with a recipe for tiramisu a month ago.  He’s been bugging me to make the recipe; and I did try one day, but needed mascarpone cheese. 

Since I now had all the ingredients, and the weather was blah, and the Patriots were not playing; so I assembled the tiramisu.  There was no cooking just mixing and layering.  It had to set in the refrigerator for 2 hours.   I had extra lady fingers and egg whites; so M came up with another smaller recipe; of ladyfingers dipped in a coffee and Kahlua and topped with a meringue.  Our neighbors stopped by and we demolished the meringue.

I thought the mascarpone had a sharp taste and thought the sugar would eliminate that but it was still there.   Got a bit mushy over night, I’d serve it after 2 hours in refrigerator for better results.  Everyone else loved it.

Here I Am

I have been having trouble with my wireless connection. My computer could no longer find my wireless network.  It simply would not work unless I had my computer right on the desk in front of the router.  Which made for much difficulty when M wanted to use his computer.  So after a trip to my favorite computer guy, it appears that our new phone system is interfering with the wireless network. 

I called  my ISP, Verizon and finally got through to Frank who remotely took control of my computer and changed the channel of my router, which now allows me to connect at the table but not at my desk.  He explained that a wireless network is like rabbit ears for our old TV sets and when you got it just right at 9:00 on CBS it wasn’t right for ABC at 10:00.  So now I can connect at the table but who knows if that will work tomorrow, with Halloween just around the corner perhaps a nice pair of rabbit ears are in order.  Anyone got an extra pair.

Frosty Morning, Lacy Tablecloth

Another chilly start today,  this is the picnic table on the deck at 7:00 am.

  The deck itself was quite slippery also.  The thermometer read 34.  It melted as soon as the sun hit.  But definitely a sign to stay inside with a good book and a warm cuppa tea.  M was off to the dentist and blood work this am so I had the house to myself.  I watched Ralph Fiennes in A Dangerous Man; Lawrence After Arabia.   I’m in my Ralph Fiennes period on Netflix right now as I am a fan. 

Finishing up Bill Belichick’s book by David Halberstam, Bill was the boy genius back in the early 1990, now it seems he’s passing the torch to a number of  coaches throughout the football world.  Check out the coaching tree @All Things Bill Belichick.

Bittersweet and Bubbly

I visited the cranberry bogs last night,  just at sunset.  I got my bittersweet and a nice walk through the cool autumn air.  At home I started my wreathe and M started dinner.  We celebrated our efforts with a bit of bubbly.