A gift from friends

My c0-workers in NJ sent me this lovely gift.

I will be tasting these lovelies from Cheryl&Co.

Food decorations

It was the first time I did this...

At Christmas I am inspired by my sister who goes all out in decking her halls.

Snowden worked on this one.

My workstation.

The supplies.

Happy celebrating everyone!

No meat dish

I am loving sauted spinach.

I was able to find some at the grocery store and today I prepared it with the tomatoes from my garden.

These things are very, very flavorful.

My dinner: sauted spinach, tomatoes, and onions over freshly steamed white rice.

Delicioso.

Thanksgiving activities

One of my favorite activities is the cutting of the vegetables.

Leeks and celery. They were used in the making of this year's stuffing.

Kohlrabi

An interesting vegetable.

It tastes a little like parsnips.

But I bet they are even better roasted.
I purchased some recently... it was part of my attempt to get in with the vegetables.

Houston, there is fruit

Is the mystery solved? The remaining plant appears to be a watermelon plant. Or is it squash?

I was happy when I spotted this beauty. It was a really nice surprise. I was expecting to see only flowers.

And there is hope for more... Can't wait.

BIrthday Ice Cream

My birthday lunch came with dessert.

Mine.

Grasshopper's.

Snowden's

Shrimp

This buttery sauteed shrimp is served over white rice with a bit of greens as embellishment .

I love rice.

Announcing my Etsy Shop

Buy Handmade!

Home made tacos

TJ loves tacos... and I never got around to making any.

The moment had the right ingredients: craving and willingness to do the work. So he set off to make us a batch of tacos.
We ate gourmet tacos for dinner.

More Pizza

Snowden's pizza version. Thick crust.

A little girl's pizza

Grasshopper and Snowden decided to make some pizza.

The kitchen was all theirs...

They pull out all the ingredients...

Ready for the oven.

And no, it was not eadible this time around. :-)

Still growing

My small garden is moving along...

I am still not sure what is growing.

Can you tell?

Grilling 101

Snowden is building her cooking skills repertoire.

When I see this happen I think about how one day she will cook for herself and her family and friends. And I'll get to say "I knew her when".

She's already cooking for us - an unintended reward for parents.
:-)

Growth

The garden is surviving the heat. Only about 1/8 of the seeds I planted grew but I am good with that.

I purposely did not label what I planted so I am sooooo in the dark about what is growing.

I remember something about melons and squash.

Coors - Golden, CO

Well, why not visit the Coors facility in Golden, CO when so close.

Not too far from Denver.

The beer's main or as the self guided tour gadget things says, the most important ingredient is the water from the rocky mountains.

This room smelled divine.

The packaging room.

At the end of the tour all adults got a chance to have 3 glasses of the beer of their choice. My favorite was the Coors regular.

The youngens drank coke.

Good Soup

Back at home I have made soup... cauliflower ... with 2 day old french bread chunks.

As time permits I have been reading my vegetable gardening books, hoping to help the strawberry plants survive. Not sure about that though.

Adam's Mountain Cafe

Adam's Mountain Cafe is located in Manitou Springs, CO.

Stopping by after a run up to Pike's Peak hits the spot.

Healthy food is in.

A fun beer.

Warm tea.

Greens.

Manitou Springs has a look that resembles the Alps. I also felt I was walking through a quaint German town... Nice place to visit, but we really only ate there.

Lox

Is what's for breakfast... or was, in Colorado, at a bagel shop.

I love the stuff...could eat massive chunks of it.

A museum and a cafe

The O'Keeffe Cafe in Santa Fe, NM was the right place to stop in after a visit to the famous Georgia O'Keeffe Museum.

The weather was super. A nice change from the scorching heat of AZ.

A kid friendly beverage.

Bread.

Lentil Soup.

It was a bit pricey but made for a lovely end to an afternoon spent getting to know downtown Santa Fe, NM.

Frozen Yogurt

In a cup.

They come set up to be frozen. Grasshopper enjoys yogurt in many way

Chicken Soup Curries Flavor

TJ and I are Thai Food fans. I already cook with curry so trying out this simple recipe was easy.

I found it in a newspaper years ago. I have many cookbooks and cut out recipes and I look through them every once in a while.

It really was delicious.

I will scan and post the recipe.