A good one and some Christmas snaps

Ooookkkk, so Jason got a pasta maker for Christmas...and we had homemade pasta with a brilliant concoction of fire-roasted tomatoes, onions and parsley - like a cappellini pomodoro type dish.  SO GOOD.  The pasta is fantastic - Graham helped crank it out.

We left Thurs for Eau Claire, went to cousins' Zach, Jake & Josh's HS hockey game, went to Dan & Cheri's Christmas Eve morn, celebrated Christmas Eve with some of Jason's Dad's side of the family, Christmas day we opened gifts under the tree with Mary, Dave, Ryan, Jen, B and E, headed to Madison and celebrated with my Dad's side of the family and on Sunday celebrated with my Mom's side of the family at her boathouse - it was a winter carnival of sorts!  Skating, broomball, bonfire, kayak sleighriding, etc!  And finally made it back home to celebrate yet again with just the four of us!  WOO.  Caught up on sleep and here we are.  Headed back to Madtown for my Dad's retirement party on NYE...

Catch up and Christmas!

Dear, dear Jason...this blog has benefited me like I didn't foresee...Jason has stepped up his game, I think.  Now that he's published...hee hee.  But seriously, it does seem like the ideas, creativity and quality have elevated in the past months...I'm just always so floored by dinner so many nights!

Two great ones:

I don't have a lot of cravings/moods for particular food except Thai food and Graham had his Christmas concert tonight (REAL cute, see below, with a couple of another little gal for good measure) and Jason made Pud Thai - Wooo hoooooooo!  SO GOOD.  Rice noodles from TJs, pud thai sauce, bean sprouts, chicken in soy sauce, etc., red pepper, cilantro, scallions.  YA Hoo Yum.

And a few nights ago, Jason made this salad with spinach/herb mix, chicken, craisins, goat cheese and a from-scratch balsamic herb vinaigrette PLUS!!  a from-scratch rosemary flatbread that Jason had a hankering for and found a recipe on the web.  Seeeeee??  Isn't it crazy?  Crazy awesome.

PEACE AND LOVE AND COMORT AND JOY TO ALL!  Happy Holidays...xoxo

Two great dishes and 'that' flu

Jason made a couple great ones the last week.  First was a sort of Asian creation with bean sprouts, peas in the pod, chicken, pears, brown rice, etc.  YUM.

Then that vicious albeit short-lived flu hit Graham on Friday at midnight but was fine by Saturday night.  The rest of us were just fine until Tuesday morning for me.  WOW.  Not good.  I begged Jason to come home from work to help with G and E and he obliged.  The knight in shining armor made a seriously incredible soup for dinner - I was able to eat it surprisingly.  Orzo, carrots, corn, chicken, celery...he sauteed the veggies first and then added broth and the orzo last.  REE Hee hee LL goooood!

Here are Graham and Estelle getting geared up for Christmas

Little Drummer Boy - Graham loves putting costumes together and tying anything and everything together

Lotsa goodies...including the mother of them all - Thanksgiving!!!

Wooooooooo.  Yaaaaaaaa.  Sooooooo.  Back on track.  Seems whirlwindy.

A little catch-up on some fantastic feasts Jason put out pre and post almighty Thanksgiving:

Cre A tiv Ah T = coined TJ's mango chicken sausage, roasted fingerling potatoes, corn and spinach with freshly grated gruyere cheese - I mean...real good.  So unique.

Picked up some Tilapia fillets on sale at Sendik's on Oakland - Jason does an egg-panko-parm bath and pan cooks them.  On the side, roasted broccoli (on the menu and mind because Jason had them at Jay and Ken's place after deer hunting on their farm and ravvvvved about them) and roasted potatoes - both with just olive oil, salt and pepper.  Fantastico!  AND do notice the plated olive oil - direct from Italy from Jason's parents, Mary and Dave!!!  Suuu uu uu per good.

Not your everyday chicken sandwich: on oven-toasted ciabatta bread with sun-dried tomatoes, avocado and gruyere cheese.  We use Whole Foods Nature's Rancher 40 oz bag of frozen chicken tenderloins most things chicken.  As a side - a huge favorite - coined carrots sauteed in butter, honey, garlic and soy sauce - this batch was extra good (Jason made them this time...I usually do, hence this blog).

...last and maybe least but still good - baked ziti last night

And how thankful are we for our new little nephew Emmett Allan who arrived the day before Thanksgiving!  So thankful!  Another little blondie cutie for Ryan and Jen and big sis Brooklyn!  Pretty neat.  Here they are with their brunette cousins.

Thanksgiving prep was a bear this year but the final product was sooooo very nice.  We had about 17 - 20 family members all together.  Everyone brings something which really makes it - each thing is just so fantastic with many, many passed-down special family recipes and new things like brussel sprouts with gruyere cheese - WOW, real good.  Nice one, Andrea.  And the eve was rounded out with our annual, infamous ornament exchange.  Thanks to all for making it sooooo very nice.

I was planning on not crying this year when my Dad said the prayer but alas...I did...again.  It's OK.  It's for my sister.  Robin is always so heavy on our hearts and minds - especially this time of year and this Thanksgiving holiday.  So many things to be thankful for.  So many.  One huge and central one is Robin's life and knowing her and learning from her beautiful life and even from her sudden death.  From suffering and difficulty can come strength and blessings.  Priceless gifts.  Thank God.

Here are a few photos from the joyous occasion.

Innnnnteresting...

Last night Jason found a recipe for which we had all of the unique ingredients on hand...though the name of it included 'dressing' and was misinterpreted as 'salad' dressing versus a 'stuffing'; it was very good and Jason accompanied it with seasoned chicken tenderloins...

From the foodnetwork.com, the dressing=stuffing included:
wild rice, goat cheese, chorizo, whole wheat bread, carrots, celery and chicken broth. 

It was very good with a nice, unique flavor.

Kuuuudooooos to Chef Jason.

Dreary weekend weather wise but Graham had fun at his first basketball practice early Saturday morning.  Nan/my mom came to spend some time and the night Saturday and Jason and I went to trivia night at St. Robert.  Really fun - some questions were really difficult but we had Joe Cincotta!  What a ringer...our whole table each contributed though too and we had a blast.

On Friday, Ryan, Jen and Brooklyn came for dinner and a most likely last visit before family member #4 arrives!  Jen's ready to go and in wait...so exciting!  Should be within the next couple weeks!  You're in our prayers Jen...

Kabobs, Ski-Hi, Smiley Kiddies,,,

Mmmmmm: we had kabobs on the grill - red pepps, green and yellow zuchhnini, red onion, chicken chunks all tossed in evoo, kosher salt and fresh ground pepper...flavor fantastic.  60s out today!  SO NICE!

Aaaah, forgot to take a pre-photo - the lemons are left; Jason's idea for putting next to the chicken and it worked

Our trip to honor and remember Robin to Ski-Hi this season was heavenly...maybe thanks to her!  The weather, the scenery, the feeling and most of all the family that all came together; Mom, Dad, Kathy, Joe, Bubsie/Matt, Em, Sean, John, Connie, Tim, Deb, it was all so touching and just good.