This is what we did all week. I think Kodi gained a few pounds!!!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Week of November 26: Annual Holiday Competition
Every year during the Holiday season, our friends, the Whitemans, host a competition. It started as a gingerbread house competition but has evolved into a cooking competition over the years. As you all may recall, I was gloriously crowned as the champion last year. Last year, there was only one overall winner (me!) but this year, the competition was split into 2 categories... appetizers and desserts. I naturally decided to defend my title and entered the appetizer group while Andrea elected to enter the dessert group.
The history of the Annual Holiday Competition is riddled with scandals, conspiracy, politics and down right cheating. I think last year was the only year that I can sincerely say was truly fair and just. Unfortunately, the ghosts of the wicked past returned this year to pass unfair judgements against Andrea and I. Yes, Andrea and I, the model cooking purists, became this years innocent victims of the cut throat world of the Annual Holiday Competition. So this year, under the dark cloud of controversy, Ed's Fancy Meat Toasties was "chosen" as the best appetizer over my Hainese Chicken Balls and Sharon's Canele was "selected" over Andrea's Profiteroles as the best dessert. I could go on and on with factual evidence and analysis of the unjust rulings but Andrea and I have gone past beyond that. Some may even say that Andrea's and my maturity and sportsmanship are only exceeded by our culinary creativity and skills. Actually, we're still bitter that we lost. Congratulations to Ed and Sharon. Enjoy your victory... we will crush you both next year!!!!
Here "the gang" are caught conspiring.
The history of the Annual Holiday Competition is riddled with scandals, conspiracy, politics and down right cheating. I think last year was the only year that I can sincerely say was truly fair and just. Unfortunately, the ghosts of the wicked past returned this year to pass unfair judgements against Andrea and I. Yes, Andrea and I, the model cooking purists, became this years innocent victims of the cut throat world of the Annual Holiday Competition. So this year, under the dark cloud of controversy, Ed's Fancy Meat Toasties was "chosen" as the best appetizer over my Hainese Chicken Balls and Sharon's Canele was "selected" over Andrea's Profiteroles as the best dessert. I could go on and on with factual evidence and analysis of the unjust rulings but Andrea and I have gone past beyond that. Some may even say that Andrea's and my maturity and sportsmanship are only exceeded by our culinary creativity and skills. Actually, we're still bitter that we lost. Congratulations to Ed and Sharon. Enjoy your victory... we will crush you both next year!!!!
Ed's Fancy Meat Toasties (left) vs. my Hainese Chicken Balls (right).
Sharon's Canele (left) vs. Andrea's Profiteroles (right).
Ed's tribute to "the man" (left). Ed and Sharon, the winners (right)!
Here "the gang" are caught conspiring.
The night really got wild after the competition. There is a reason why it is illegal for doctors to operate after drinking a few Maker's and ginger ale.
Week of November 19: Raysia de Cuba
We decided to offer our friends a break from turkey leftovers on the Saturday following Thanksgiving by inviting them over for Cuban food. (Our friend Victor is Cuban and gave us a great Cuban cookbook so we had to try it out.)There is a small chain of restaurants called Asia de Cuba that offer Asian/Cuban fusion. We didn't really do fusion, but it was Cuban cooked by an Asian, so close enough. Because we had cooked a large meal for Thanksgiving, we made this one a potluck with everyone assigned a different dish.
Dinner Assignment List
- Appetizer: Dip de Frijoles Negros "Black Bean Hummus" (Thomas)
- Appetizer: Crab and Shrimp Ceviche (Brian)
- Side Dish: Platanos en Tentacion "Fried Sweet Plantains" (Kathi & Andy)
- Side Dish: Congri Oriental "Red Beans and Rice" (Ed & Laura)
- Salad: Ensalada de Aguacate "Avacado Salad" (Brandon & Shannon)
- Main Dish: Tamal en Cazuela "Cornmeal Pork Stew" (Ray & Andrea)
- Dessert: Fat Apple Pies (Rob)
- Drinks: Mojito (Leslie)
People came over a little early and we took the kids and dogs over to the school yard nearby so we could burn off a few calories before the feast.
After a few hours of playing, we headed back to the house for Mojitos and appetizers while the finishing touches were put on the entrees and side dishes. We then sat down at our table (we had to install both table extension leaves which made the table about a mile long) for the main course.
After eating ourselves silly, we moved to the living room to watch a movie. The other requirement for coming to dinner was to bring your favorite 80s movie. From the collection of high quality 80s movies, we would pick one out of the hat... awesome (as Spicoli would say). We ended up watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High which was the launching pad for a lot of very talented actors such as Sean Penn and Forest Whitaker. If you're really on the ball, you can even notice Nicholas Cage in it for about 3 seconds.
Since we had a number of great movies in the house for this event, Sunday was also filled with great 80s movies for Andrea and I. I got to see Valley Girl for the first time ever (great movie starring once again Nicholas Cage - although back then he was Nicholas Coppola) and Can't Buy Me Love which we now own in case you ever want to borrow it.
After eating ourselves silly, we moved to the living room to watch a movie. The other requirement for coming to dinner was to bring your favorite 80s movie. From the collection of high quality 80s movies, we would pick one out of the hat... awesome (as Spicoli would say). We ended up watching Fast Times at Ridgemont High which was the launching pad for a lot of very talented actors such as Sean Penn and Forest Whitaker. If you're really on the ball, you can even notice Nicholas Cage in it for about 3 seconds.Since we had a number of great movies in the house for this event, Sunday was also filled with great 80s movies for Andrea and I. I got to see Valley Girl for the first time ever (great movie starring once again Nicholas Cage - although back then he was Nicholas Coppola) and Can't Buy Me Love which we now own in case you ever want to borrow it.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Week of November 12: ARE YOU READY TO RUMBLE?!?!?
It's been a while since we've had a post about our favorite couple - Todd and Leslie! This time it's all about Todd.Todd celebrated his 33rd birthday a while back and in order to celebrate, we had a party in his honor at our friend Rodd's house. Todd thought he was just going for a night of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and pizza until more and more of his friends showed up. (Todd is so well liked that his party was attended even by a number of people who don't appreciate the very highbrow event of Ultimate Fighting).
Enough about Todd. Let's shift gear to something more interesting... UFC! This was the first time that Andrea and I ever sat down to watch a UFC event. Before this night, I had always thought of UFC as a legalized form (also minus the fighting till death part) of "kumite". Some of you movie connoisseurs may recognize the term "kumite" from the movie featuring the Muscles from Brussles in the blockbuster hit Bloodsport. After withnessing a night of UFC Pay-Per-View, I can honestly admit that I was so right. Basically, a UFC match was a 1-on-1 fight between 2 men utilizing their martial art and wrestling skills. Think of it as a halfChuck Norris half Macho Man Randy Savage dude fighting against a half Bruce Lee half Yokozuna dude. The two dudes fight/wrestle/karate chop until one of them gets knocked out or submits (usually under a submission hold).Don't get me wrong, these dudes were all bad asses and very atheletic but after the first couple of matches, I must admit, I lost interest and started wondering about catching the SportsCenter highlights of the Michigan vs. Ohio State game. But the night was all about Todd and he enjoyed every minute of UFC. Happy Birthday Champ!
Week of November 5: Molly and Josh's Wedding
Another weekend, another wedding!
This time we headed back to Grand Forks, ND for my cousin Molly's wedding. A lot of you have met Molly over the years and know that she is a pretty special girl and has grown into a wonderful young woman. I'm going to get a little sappy here because she is the youngest of the Schultz girls and I remember her from when she was born. She's also the one who loves the lake and swimming in it as much as I do. She is now working on her masters and teaching in Grand Forks. There will be a lot of lucky kids going through her class.
Speaking of lucky kids, Josh is probably the luckiest of all of them since he now gets to spend his life with her. Josh and Molly have been together for several years and he asked her to marry him about a year ago. So in addition to all of their schoolwork (Josh is in med school) they spent the last year planning the wedding.
The wedding was held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks with the reception at the Masonic Hall downtown. We went over on Friday to help set it up and I thought we had it looking pretty good when we left but when we showed up for the actual reception, they decorator had turned it into an absolute paradise. I have to say that I love fall colors for a wedding.
Sara and Carrie (Molly's sisters) and Noel (her best friend) all looked stunning as the bridesmaids. Molly looked amazing in her wedding dress and Josh very handsome in his tuxedo as they said
their vows. Rick and Scott played "The Lovers Waltz" which they had played at our wedding and it was as moving this time as it was a year and a half ago.
The reception was a blast with a little bit of polka and a whole lot of dancing. (There were a few reports of stiff legs the following day...)
They had wedding cake in more flavors than I could count and our aunt Audrey had made some delicious candies just to make sure we had enough sugar in our systems to keep lively on the dance floor.
It was wonderful to see Molly and Josh start their new life together and even more wonderful to catch up with all of the family that made it out for the wedding. We're lucky to be blessed with such a loving, not to mention fun, family.
This time we headed back to Grand Forks, ND for my cousin Molly's wedding. A lot of you have met Molly over the years and know that she is a pretty special girl and has grown into a wonderful young woman. I'm going to get a little sappy here because she is the youngest of the Schultz girls and I remember her from when she was born. She's also the one who loves the lake and swimming in it as much as I do. She is now working on her masters and teaching in Grand Forks. There will be a lot of lucky kids going through her class.
Speaking of lucky kids, Josh is probably the luckiest of all of them since he now gets to spend his life with her. Josh and Molly have been together for several years and he asked her to marry him about a year ago. So in addition to all of their schoolwork (Josh is in med school) they spent the last year planning the wedding.
The wedding was held at Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks with the reception at the Masonic Hall downtown. We went over on Friday to help set it up and I thought we had it looking pretty good when we left but when we showed up for the actual reception, they decorator had turned it into an absolute paradise. I have to say that I love fall colors for a wedding.
Sara and Carrie (Molly's sisters) and Noel (her best friend) all looked stunning as the bridesmaids. Molly looked amazing in her wedding dress and Josh very handsome in his tuxedo as they said
their vows. Rick and Scott played "The Lovers Waltz" which they had played at our wedding and it was as moving this time as it was a year and a half ago.The reception was a blast with a little bit of polka and a whole lot of dancing. (There were a few reports of stiff legs the following day...)
They had wedding cake in more flavors than I could count and our aunt Audrey had made some delicious candies just to make sure we had enough sugar in our systems to keep lively on the dance floor.It was wonderful to see Molly and Josh start their new life together and even more wonderful to catch up with all of the family that made it out for the wedding. We're lucky to be blessed with such a loving, not to mention fun, family.
Week of October 29: Seattle for Michelle's Wedding
As you know, Ray and I never turn down a chance to attend a wedding even if it means travel - or maybe especially if there is travel! We headed up to Seattle for the weekend to celebrate my friend Michelle's wedding. (See previous post for the trip where we got to meet Kris.)
The festivities started off on Friday night before the wedding with drinks and appetizers at Kris and Michelle's house. We got to meet a lot of their friends and family in addition to enjoying the good food and drink.
While in Seattle, we stayed at the Hyatt in Bellevue which was a beautiful hotel that has just been renovated recently. On Saturday morning we wandered around the neighborhood in spite of the rain, had a lovely breakfast, and hit the local shops (Nordstrom's of course is the most well known of the local shops!) I fell in love with a pair of boots but managed to talk myself out of buying them since they were more than I was ready to spend...
For lunch we met up with a couple of my Larson cousins Kevin and Mike (and Mike's family.) We had a wonderful lunch and spent a few hours catching up with each other.
That af
ternoon we headed out to the wedding with our friends, Brock and Sally, in the middle of a lovely Seattle rain storm. Michelle looked radiant, Seattle definitely suits her. The
ceremony was lovely and then followed by a nice dinner and dancing to a live band. We did discover how small a world it was when at the reception Ray ran into someone that he used to work with who was married to someone that I now work with. I guess that is what happens in the small world of Oracle...
The following day, Ray and I allowed ourselves a big indulgence by staying in bed late, ordering room service and watching football from our comfy bed. (Fantasy football changes your view of a romantic Sunday.)
The festivities started off on Friday night before the wedding with drinks and appetizers at Kris and Michelle's house. We got to meet a lot of their friends and family in addition to enjoying the good food and drink.
While in Seattle, we stayed at the Hyatt in Bellevue which was a beautiful hotel that has just been renovated recently. On Saturday morning we wandered around the neighborhood in spite of the rain, had a lovely breakfast, and hit the local shops (Nordstrom's of course is the most well known of the local shops!) I fell in love with a pair of boots but managed to talk myself out of buying them since they were more than I was ready to spend...
For lunch we met up with a couple of my Larson cousins Kevin and Mike (and Mike's family.) We had a wonderful lunch and spent a few hours catching up with each other.
That af
ternoon we headed out to the wedding with our friends, Brock and Sally, in the middle of a lovely Seattle rain storm. Michelle looked radiant, Seattle definitely suits her. The
ceremony was lovely and then followed by a nice dinner and dancing to a live band. We did discover how small a world it was when at the reception Ray ran into someone that he used to work with who was married to someone that I now work with. I guess that is what happens in the small world of Oracle...The following day, Ray and I allowed ourselves a big indulgence by staying in bed late, ordering room service and watching football from our comfy bed. (Fantasy football changes your view of a romantic Sunday.)
Week of October 22: Soup is Good Food
Since Ray has been a little delinquent in the blogging, I'm going to spend a little time updating the blog. One of the joys of being married has been working on home projects such as the shed that everyone is tired of hearing about. In order to get away from the shed project, I undertook a project of my own. Soup making.
I abandoned Ray out in the yard and decided to make a few batches of soup for us with enough to share with Ray's parents. One of the soups that we made was a Portuguese Kale Soup (Caldo Verde) - we were trying to recreate a soup that we had tried at a little restaurant in SF called Grubstake(Grubstake is a little diner in our old neighborhood. It serves traditional diner food but it also has a little section of Portuguese food that I highly recommend. And as an added bonus, it is open until 4am - so if you ever need a late night bite to eat in SF - this is the place to go.)
The recipe we made was out of one of my favorite cookbooks - The Gourmet Cookbook
(I've had a lot of good luck with the recipes from this cookbook!)
The other soup we made was a Lentil/Chickpea Soup
also found in the Gourmet cookbook - which was very nice and hearty!
The nice thing about making soups on the weekend was that we had several meals both for ourselves and for Ray's parents!
I abandoned Ray out in the yard and decided to make a few batches of soup for us with enough to share with Ray's parents. One of the soups that we made was a Portuguese Kale Soup (Caldo Verde) - we were trying to recreate a soup that we had tried at a little restaurant in SF called Grubstake(Grubstake is a little diner in our old neighborhood. It serves traditional diner food but it also has a little section of Portuguese food that I highly recommend. And as an added bonus, it is open until 4am - so if you ever need a late night bite to eat in SF - this is the place to go.)
The recipe we made was out of one of my favorite cookbooks - The Gourmet Cookbook
(I've had a lot of good luck with the recipes from this cookbook!)
The other soup we made was a Lentil/Chickpea Soup
also found in the Gourmet cookbook - which was very nice and hearty!
The nice thing about making soups on the weekend was that we had several meals both for ourselves and for Ray's parents!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
