Family Festivities

I had a terrific week last week - I got to spend the week with my whole family! Toni and I showed up in Portland to on Wednesday spend some time with Mom, Todd, & his family on Wednesday, and by Friday, Bill & Dad showed up so the whole lot of us got to spend several days together. It was so much fun!

Ella modeled her Where The Wild Things Are "Max" outfit that Toni made her for Christmas:

And sweet Emery danced for us in her oversized, pretty skirt (picture taken after 7 or 8 twirls, during which she said "Dance! Dance! Dance!"):

Toni got down on the guitar, while Ella played on Toni's Ukulele:

And everyone loved the bubble machine!

If only I had taken some pictures of the delicious ribs Todd smoked (and all the trimmings that Kirsten prepared), but alas, I was too busy eating.

Thank you, Todd & Kirsten for hosting such an enjoyable long weekend!!

Food!

Last year I bought Bill a smoker for Christmas. But truly, it was a gift that keeps on giving... to me! I've been able to enjoy all of the yummy items he has cooked and/or smoked as he's gotten the hang of his new toy.

Bill has smoked several great items, but the best so far has been our Thanksgiving turkey.

It was juicy, tender, and super-tasty. The only downfall was that it was done about 3 hours before we had anticipated it to be, causing me to have a minor panic attack with all of the sides barely started. Thankfully, Mom, Dad, and Bill all pitched in and helped me out.

Bill has also smoked some delicious chicken, including an ancho chile rubbed flat chicken; a recipe I got from Rick Bayless' Mexican Everyday cookbook.

Whenever we smoke something with bones, we've been trying to make homemade stock. With our most recent flat chicken, we made a stock, shredded the left over chicken, and made a terrific soup. Bill even made homemade noodles!

Am I a lucky lady or what? (I did make the bread in this last picture, so at least I contribute a little!)

Playa Practice

So we're starting to prepare for Burning Man 2010. First up is transportation. We need to get Jen some kind of powered transport since the thin air is a bit too much. A couple years ago, we bought a cheap electric bike on eBay. It has nowhere near enough power to get up the hill we live on, but the desert is pretty flat, so...

Near us is a park with a rough sandy field that emulates the Black Rock Desert well enough. We took the bike out for a test ride.Notice Jennifer's hands-on-hips pose? That followed a small tumble, and the attitude in the pose is "OK, buster - you try it then." So I did.

Yeah, it's not going to work. No power, tires too skinny, and the 46 pounds of off-center battery weight make this a complete non-starter. Back to the drawing board.

Zippy got bored. We caught him tagging this wall next to an abandoned U.S. Army training building (the park is on a former Army base). Bad Zippy!