A new diner

Estelle's Mmmmmmmm: Earth's Best organic whole grain rice cereal!!!  Stelly likes it!  She's started to get up in the night - a bit of regression - and I feed her then, which hasn't happened since her first month.  So, we thought she might need more fuel

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The dining room is open

Jason's back; hence healthy, gourmet dinners are back...

Mmmmmmm: we've had: fajitas - chicken, sweet onion and red peppers from the grill - whole wheat tortillas from Whole Foods (we usually use El Rey's though) - sliced, ripe avocado - organic blue corn chips and Mrs. Renfro's salsa...after Graham's Boo Bash (he had a hot dog there) we had a late dinner (if it were me, I would've ordered a pizza) Jason made chicken sandwiches but of course, not just any chicken sandwiches...topped with sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese and organic spinach with a side of Trader Joe's Chimichurri Rice...bravo!  For dessert, a slice of Jason's winnings at the cake walk - he totally beat Graham and 8 other 5-12 year-olds.  Tonight's labor was a roast (from the pig Aunt Dar buys and shares) that Jason preconceived last night to make pulled pork sandwiches and hand cut roasted sweet potato fries.  The forethought and planning boggles my little mind.


Graham's school had 'Boo Bash' on Saturday...we had a ball making his 'American Hulk' costume...a fun time at the party in the gym...even though the fog machine set off the fire alarm and we had to evacuate...the kids got a kick out of seeing some real costumed fire fighters.

Oh and one more thing - we carved our pumpkins and made roasted pumpkin seeds!  Four kinds: salt & pepper, Lawrys, cinnamon/sugar and curry.  Makes me think of Jason's/our cousins, Jay and Ken and their pumpkin farm...and then how gourmet they are with their breathtaking gardens and the goods they trade with neighbor farmers...they should start a blog with their cooking...they do have a website with fascinating and inspiring things already: www.hayriver.net

The camera work here is kind of shoddy but for a four-year-old is kind of great!  This is Estelle's heartiest laugh yet... love that four-year-old's laugh, too ( : Graham films the pumpkin facial features quite thoroughly...
Happy, happy (early) Halloween!
...shoot, that video was too large of a file...here's another with her laughing pretty good!

A week off

Jason's at a trade show this week so there will be no dining of great note...

Here's a video of Estelle and her Dad having a chat.

I've been posting everyday and now I think I'll cut back to only the stellar creations de Jason - which actually periodically just might be a number of consecutive nights anyway!

Pizza Party

Another incredible WI fall day...spectacular. Great day for Graham's soccer game (he almost scored twice and more importantly has a smile the whole game)- to top it off Coach Dan gave us some farm-fresh carrots and beets still attached to their leaves and soil! Some dishes to come with those ingredients hopefully...anyone have a good beet recipe? Dwight Schrutte does no doubt. The farmer told Dan to dice, season and grill the beets...Mmmmmmmmmmmm

Jason's cousin Vicky was in town with her twins for a hockey tourney at MSOE and we took in some of the action then we all came back and picked up two pizzas from Whole Foods...one pepp and one chix and spinach. It was a nice visit and pizza was probably the best choice for Josh and Jake post game...we always love a Whole Foods pizza...

Friday night lite

Snacks at wine play date drive a lighter din-din on Fridays...

Mmmmmm: herb mixed greens (dill in there, good stuff) on sale at Whole Foods: diced chicken: thickly julienned apples: diced avocado: craisins: honey chevre cheese: with Whole Foods organic balsamic vinaigrette (Jason and Graham's fave dressing)

Estelle has started to man-handle things. She really took it to the Triscuit box tonight.

Greeky

Got pumpkins from Barthel's in Mequon with Mary, James and Ev today...there were so many good ones, the field was beautiful. Picked up some apple cider, too...Jason's favorite.

Mmmmmmmm: tonight we had whole wheat Kangaroo pitas (from Milwaukee, I believe) stuffed with diced chicken: diced cucumbers: made a yogurt sauce: feta cheese: and as a side, the Harvest Grains Blend from TJ's made with a chicken bouillon which is reallllllllll good. This is a regular round here, maybe a couple times a month, one of Graham's faves: yummmmmm.

Fresh tasting and summery even though it's peak perfect fall right now!

Jason used to HAVE to have meat with dinner...no longer the case! Yeah! He's come to like more vegetables and has broadened his horizon of foods he'll try and likes. Even though this has chicken in it, it's relatively minimal and it's really carrot heavy...His tonight's delight:

Mmmmmmmmm: Chicken and mozzarella ravioli from Costco: grated organic whole carrots from Whole Foods - a steal in our opinion for something like $1.50/lb - and sun-dried tomatoes from TJ's sauteed in garlic and olive oil: all tossed in a big bowl with a half cup of the water (boiled w/ chicken bouillon) reserved from the ravioli and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Two glasses of leftover jumbo bottle Sutter Home Merlot (not bad!) from the baptism and a sliced baguette with kalamata olive oil, fresh ground pepper and grated parm: Wahlah!

Doctors Park today to meet the Schmelzers...beautiful afternoon...the Lake drive there is phenom - colors are stunning! Graham asked today if God has controls for the weather and making signs and things. Estelle is a happy girl but must be teething...fist, fingers, toys, everything in mouth and she's just about arching her way out of the Bumbo! Sheesh.

Estelle's Baptism 10/10/10 @ 10:10 a.m.!!

Dave's birthday Saturday 10/9 - he let his three (soon 2B 4!) grandkids blow out the candles

At SSPP after the mass at the baptismal font

Godparents Tim Bate and Kathy Bate (mine, too!)

Cakes from Aunt Dar - sooooo neat...'God Bless Estelle Robin' and a cross cake

Little Stelly Robin was baptized last weekend. It was warm and fuzzy and beautiful! She wore my grandpa's christening gown from 1895 that Brynn, Robin & I wore also! Pretty neat. The day was heavenly - the mass, the weather and the fantastic family surrounding our new little member. Thank God.
 
Thanks Brynn for the idea of posting the baptism menu, too!  

Mmmmmmmm: we had a wonderful brunchy lunch in addition to the fantastic cakes above: southwest egg bake with salsa: cream cheese coffee cake from the Weiss cookbook:  cheesy potatoes also from the Weiss CB: a spiral ham with rolls - two pickle types, two mustards: fresh tossed salad with HM blackberry vinaigrette: a punch with apr nectar, pineapple, ginger ale, etc: Alterra coffee: fruit chunks and berries with a sweet dip and pumpkin bars from Nana/Mary: an apple/pear/caramel pie from Uncle Steve: chocolate bundt cake from Aunt Connie: whole wheat orange blueberry oatmeal muffins from Midwest Living mag: so nice.

Our menu a la Jason

Jason's cooking certainly does not go unappreciated, I sing the praises almost every night and even Graham does, too sometimes! Estelle's a happy girl so she must like it, too - albeit eight hours later (:

Inspired first by Jason's skill and creativity in the kitchen, then the movie Julie and Julia and also enjoying reading Ryan and Jen's, and Steve and Andrea's blogs - I have wanted to record this fantastic talent of his (and also report on the kiddies here and there) so I'm starting this blog...

Soooo, tonight was not the norm (I had Zaffiro's with Kelli, Maggie and Barbara and Graham had an egg and cheese sandwich before soccer practice) but still Jason made something for himself with what we had around:

Mmmmmmm: He grated Yukon gold potatoes, chopped some onion, red and yellow peppers and Canadian bacon: sautéed them together: cooked an egg sunny-side-up and laid it on top: warmed corn tortillas on the side to wrap if desired and salsa as a condiment: Lovely.