Happy Birthday Tom

Date & Time: November 20, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Chicken Enchilada prepared by the lovely Carolyn. There was one tray of tasty cheese and chicken enchiladas toped with tasty Chihuahua cheese. Which according to Wikipedia comes from cows’ milk and not from the milk of the smallest dog breed of the world… Regardless of the origin of the cheese product the enchiladas were tasty and I managed to eat three which clearly was at least one too many… Noah ate a small bowl of Frosted Shredded Mini Wheat followed by a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios.
Sides: Velveeta and salsa queso dip; sour cream; jalapeno hot sauce; and Mexican rice (i.e. white rice with salsa).
Beverage / Libation: The large bottle of Livingston chardonnay wine. We drank it all…
Desert: Sue brought over a cheese cake for Tom’s birthday. Unfortunately we did not have a permit for the number of candles required so we only used about 10 sparkle candles…
Guests: Tom and Sue.
Misc.: The children each made a birthday card for Tom. Additionally, we sang to Tom in the typical horrendous Morriss fashion and made a number of joke about how he barely looks like he’s 75. The rumors spread last week about Uncle Blue Hair being around turned out to be a lie… As it turns out he apparently had something better to do then burrito night.

Peace,
NATE

I’m back behind the skillet

Date & Time: November 13, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Back to the standard everyday ground beef. But I do enough it. Was the standard ground beef with onions, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and cumin. Hmmm. This was served on tasty small, soft taco style, flour tortillas that Tom was nice enough to bring.
Sides: Lot’s to choose from today. We had that tasty Velveeta and salsa queso dip using Aldi-eeta and Aldi salsa, a tasty synergist treat; Jalapeño hot sauce, black beans with chorizo sausage sausage; sour cream, Wyatt discovered he did not like sour cream, “It’s too sour”; corn ships; taco sauce, from a jar; cheddar cheese.
Beverage / Libation: The large bottle of some sort of white/chardonnay wine I think I remember seeing a large V on the side or something. We drank it all…
Desert: Sara Lee carrot cake. Everybody loves Sara Lee carrot cake…
Guests: Tom and Sue.
Misc.: Tom was rude enough to take a cell phone call during dinner without excusing himself from the table. How uncultured.

Rumor on the street is uncle Blue Hair may be around for next burrito night.

Peace,
NATE

Meatloaf?

Date & Time: November 6, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Carolyn is on a cooking roll… She had a taste for a Mexican meatloaf that she has made before. Unfortunately, like meatloaf in general, it just doesn’t look good… Anyway I believe it had ground beef and ground pork and was tasty. I helped and put the layer of cheese on 30 minutes before it finished baking. If I say so myself the cheese was expertly arranged but alas it could not hide the ugly pile of meat look of meatloaf… Well the recipe calls for a sweet salsa glaze which I apparently complained enough about last time that Carolyn was kind enough to serve the glaze on the side.
Sides: We had the remains from three jars of salsa mixed together in one bowl (really only two jars the third jar was thrown out…), Jalapeño hot sauce, sour cream, white rice for Noah, black beans with chorizo sausage, and corn chips.
Beverage / Libation: The large bottle of Livingston chardonnay apparently is no longer adequate to quench our thirst and a jug of the aforementioned beverage was opened… But not finished.
Desert: None
Guests: Tom and Sue.
Misc.: Following dinner everybody gathered to view the video of Noah as scene two narrator three in Ms. Kandas’ second grade class performance of The True Story of the Three Little Pigs. We all smiled. Secondly, it should be noted that the robot now plays a simple drum beat. Yet surprisingly Carolyn still thinks it's a waste of time and I should be building a new kitchen… I on the other hand have been studying up on drum notation and microprocessor/EPROM programming…
Cheerio,
NATE

Taco Wagon

Date & Time: October 30, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Noah had a Halloween party that ended at 6:30pm. So we had tacos after the party. We didn’t have taco seasoning so Carolyn looked up on line and found a tasty recipe to make your own taco seasoning similar to the packages…
Sides: We had a home made salsa with canned tomatoes; plain ol’ sour cream, jalapeño hot sauce; black beans; taco sauce from a jar; and chips.
Beverage / Libation: Large bottle of chardonnay that was half gone before Carolyn came home with the kids…
Desert: they had a enough candy at the Halloween party.
Guests: Tom and Sue.
Misc.: Following dinner we carved a dozen pumpkins. Yes I have a band aid on my left index finger from a pumpkin carving incident. Lot’s of blood. The seeds didn’t get toasted yet…
Cheerio,
NATE

Mile high enchilada pie

Note forgot to post the update last week. It was sent out via email but not updated here..
Date & Time: October 23, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Carolyn made a crock pot dish called mile high enchilada pie. It involves layers of corn tortilla and sauce and other tasty ingredients. You lift it out of the crock pot and cut it like a pie… hmmm.
Sides: We had a home made salsa with canned tomatoes, home grown tomatillos, onions, lime, garlic…; Also there was Mexican sour creama, jalapeño hot sauce and chip.
Beverage / Libation: Large bottle of Livingston chardonnay and some Lienies Oktoberfest. .
Desert: Let over pumpkin pie that Carolyn made the night before. Hmmm. Needs whipped cream.
Guests: Tom. Sue’s in England….
Misc.: not much to say…
Cheers,
NATE

Spicy Enchilada

Date & Time: October 16, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Carolyn cooked up some tasty enchilada using the frozen left over chicken from last week andchicken broth from her mother. They came out very good.
Sides: We had a bunch of cilantro in the fridge form the week before so I whipped up a salsa with half an onion, one lime, two can of diced tomatoes drained, a can of black beans drained and a can of Mexican style corn (yellow corm with red sweet peppers???) , and some garlic and salt; Carolyn bought a bag of scoops which needs the ‘fresh’ style salsa; sour cream Mexican kind; and jalapeño hot sauce.
Beverage / Libation: Box/cube of wine from Target it was a chardonnay we use a carafe to make it look elegant...
Desert: Ice cream, Neapolitan. Noah wants only chocolate and vanilla, Wyatt wants all flavors, Tom had strawberry, Carolyn had chocolate and I had strawberry and vanilla.
Guests: Tom. Sue came late but the food was already cleared. She quit her job and went out for drinks with the old coworkers….
Misc.: Sorry for the late update but work got in the way…

Cheers,

NATE

Blown off!!!

Date & Time: October 9, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: We had Grilled chicken marinated in a paste made from onions, garlic, lime juice, salt and cumin. There were also thick onion slices brushed with oil and grilled.
Sides: We had some tasty sides to go with today. We had 4 avocadoes that got turned into a tomatillo guacamole. The tomatillos were roasted and blended with garlic and smashed into the avocadoes (Delia probably ate an entire avocadoes worth with a spoon); black bean with extra chorizo; store bought fresh like salsa; Mexican sour cream; shredded cheese; homemade Jalapeño hot sauce; blue and yellow corn chips; corn tortillas that were still warm when Carolyn bought them from Tony’s.
Beverage / Libation: Jug of Livingston Chardonnay served with ice cubes.
Desert: None.
Guests: Tom and Sue. Lisa and her family were supposed to come over for dinner. They were flying up from Texas and the airline offered them money to take a later flight; they are no longer welcome at burrito night…
Misc.: The boys danced around to fine music including the Chicken Dance, Our House by Madness and others.
hmmm guacamole…
NATE

Carne Asada is Not a Crime

Date & Time: September 25, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: The crime might be we didn’t have Carne Asada only ground beef tacos. What can I say I browned one pound of ground beef in the skillet. Then I added ¾ cup of water and the packet of Taco Seasoning from Aldi and simmered for 5 or ten minutes. This is the kids favorite and is clearly shown with Noah eating two tacos plus extra meat and lettuce with chips.
Sides: Tortilla chips and salsa (we mixed the medium and hot salsa from the week before into one bowl since they were basically the same thing); taco sauce (it’s not a taco without taco sauce although I don’t’ think I had any…); black beans with chorizo; Sour cream; cheese not sure what kind but it was yellow and preshredded; homemade Jalapeño hot sauce (preflood peppers); soft flour tortillas; crispy taco shells; and diced tomatoes from the store, Wyatt shared this week.
Beverage / Libation: Some sort of large bottle of Livingston wine and a couple Sam Adams October Fest beers.
Desert: Market day cookies that Noah wouldn’t eat because they were spicy. As it turns out they did have a mild and unusual black pepper aftertaste/burn in the throat. Nothing that would prevent me form eating them but Noah took only one bite. More for me I guess.
Guests: Tom and the lovely Sue.
Misc.: With a part from Tom I installed a new aquastat on the flooded hot water boiler. Unfortunately this did not solve the problem and I need another part for safe operation. Let’s hope we don’t get an early frost… Carne Asada is Not a Crime is a trade mark of saveourtacotrucks.org

Cheers,
NATE

British Invasion

Date & Time: September 25, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Burrito night is back and better then ever. The grill was lit. The chicken breasts were rubbed with seasoning. Tasty grilled chicken with grilled onions were prepared. It was more of a fajita night but I do enjoy the grilled chicken with onions.
Sides: A veritable plethora of sides was offered. We had guacamole, fully processed and squeezed out of a bag but still tasty; black beans with chorizo, could use more chorizo; store bought fresh like salsa in medium and hot, I couldn’t tell the difference between them, they both seemed medium (with the flooding of the garden I’ve mostly abandoned the fresh garden vegetables and salsa); Sour cream; Colby and Monterey Jack cheese; homemade Jalapeño hot sauce (preflood peppers); corn chips; flour tortillas; and Wyatt ate a store bought tomato and didn’t share with anybody.
Beverage / Libation: Some sort of large bottle of Livingston wine which was consumed and we sent Tom home to get another large bottle of wine which was also consumed.
Desert: Italian bakery cookies that Carolyn’s dad dropped off earlier in the day. Wyatt ate the majority of the cookies.
Guests: Tom and Sue and Sue’s dad and his wife (both English) visiting from Florida. We had to get the forks out for them...
Misc.: Delia did not join us for dinner. She did not nap today and demanded to eat at about 5:30. So she was fed and put to bed at approximately 6:15. Hopefully this is not the start of a no nap trend.
It’s good to have burrito night back,

NATE

It's gonna rain; I said it's gonna rain; Yes, It's gonna rain; I'm so happy to say; Oh It's gonna rain on the world today

Date & Time: September 18, 2008 5:30pm
Main Course: Smoked pork tacos left over from Labor Day. Well the tacos weren’t left over but the smoked pork has been in the freezer since Labor day.
Sides: A new batch of black beans with chorizo, I added the chorizo when I cooked the beans I needed more chorizo. We also had sour cream, store bought salsa (no more homemade salsa from homegrown tomatoes, more below) and cheddar cheese.
Beverage / Libation: Some sort of large bottle of Livingston wine and gin and tonic with Key Lime juice and grenadine (kind of gin lime rickey tonic).
Desert: None
Guests: None. Tom did eat some pork before leaving having helped out during the day.
Misc.: Burrito night was a little early today because of curriculum night at Noah’s school was conveniently scheduled at 6:30. Additionally burrito night was kept mainly to a family affair since the area has been declared a disaster area and clean up has been ongoing after the Sunday evacuation of our home when all roads to our house were submerged. Leading shortly after to the submerging of our basement in 4 to 5 feet of water…

Stay dry,
NATE

In Memory of Arthur Albert Schmid, Jr.

"I found Great Grandpa he's sleeping in the treasure chest" -Wyatt Roger Morriss, 4 years old

I did bring two home made salsas, tomato and roasted tomatillo to the wake for the family to enjoy.

Enchilada Night

Date & Time: September 4, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Carolyn made tasty chicken enchiladas. She made two trays one with mild and one with smoked jalapeños from the garden. The jalapeños are spicy this year…
Sides: Chips, homemade salsa, homemade hot salsa, sour cream, jalapeño hot sauce, and sweet corn bread casserole thing (I think it’s a ChiChis mix, regardless it’s tasty)
Beverage / Libation: Linies Octoberfest, Heineken, one bottle of Charles Shaw and a large bottle of some other sort of wine. Lushes...
Desert: Homemade oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies. Carolyn makes me oatmeal and raisin.
Guests: Tom and Sue
Misc.: The robot was displayed. The microprocessor is hooked up and I can now program its movements. Carolyn remains unimpressed until it can do the dishes… See movie of robot below.

Note picture of Delia giving up on using the little chip for teh big spoon to eat the salsa...

Cheers
NATE

Mmmmmmm Steak!

Date & Time: August 28, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: STEAK! Carolyn bought me steak or maybe it’s for my brother but I tend to thinks it because she knocked my robot parts down the steps… Anyway We had three skirt streaks and two chicken breast. The steak was coated with vegetable oil and then sprinkled with kosher salt, fine garlic powder and some chili powder and left to sit for about an hour. The chicken was coated with oil and the salt and pepper only. They were both cooked on the grill the steak was nicely medium rare hmmm. We had it with flour tortillas that were heated on the grill after the meat was to get a little toasty and greasy but still soft hmmm. I thought it was too much food but looked forward to having steak for lunch on Friday. As it turns out I have mainly chicken for lunch on Friday, they ate my steak… as Sue would say buggers.
Sides: Chips, homemade salsa with tigerella tomatoes and tomatillas from the backyard and store bought garlic, onion, cilantro and lemon juice, cheddar cheese, sour cream, black and pinto beans and made freshly over the weekend jalapeño hot sauce it’s a little spicy this year. My first picking of peppers yielded about 7 pounds (two bowls). Oh and I almost forgot we also had fresh made guacamole (I’m glad I have spell check…) I’m not sure if the avocados were also bought out of guilt for knocking my robot parts down the steps…
Beverage / Libation: Some sort of large bottle of Livingston wine.
Desert: The kids had Creamsicles the adults had leftover ice cream pie form Noah’s birthday party sleepover (made by Carolyn included chocolate ice cream, Oreo crust, Oreo crumbs on top, and cookies and cream ice cream).
Guests: Tom and Sue and Uncle blue hair, although his hair was black so maybe it’s back to calling him Uncle Jon… Apparently, a couple of weeks of teaching and he needed a vacation… He really flew in on Friday and is driving a car back to Florida with him on Sunday. He’ll miss the Labor day BBQ hmm smoked pork.
Misc.: Not much else to say. After dinner we sat around the table and Sue Noah and Wyatt played a version of Pictionary where they all had to draw the same picture and the rest of us judged them. I should have scanned the picture to include here but I didn’t. I should have taken a picture of the food to include here but didn’t…

Eso es todo amigos,
NATE

Pre Noah Birthday Festivities

Delia enjoyed the black beans and chorizo.

Date & Time: August 21, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Smoked pork tacos with flour and corn tortillas. The pork was left over form the last barbecue. It’s been in the freezer for a while and was slightly dry but still tasty.
Sides: Chips, homemade salsa with tigerella tomatoes and tomatillas from the backyard (the garlic, onion, cilantro, red bell pepper and lime came from the grocery store though), mozzarella cheese (Tom forgot the cheddar cheese requested by the four year old, low fat sour cream, black and pinto beans with chorizo sausage hmmm.
Beverage / Libation: Linies Sunset Wheat, Some sort of large bottle of Livingston
Desert: The kids had vanilla ice cream cones.
Guests: Tom and Sue. Sue came back we thought she didn’t like us anymore…
Misc.: The boys danced around the front room for half an hour requesting the chicken dance multiple times. Upon not being able to take the chicken dance anymore Pseudo Echo - Funky Town was played followed by the Elvis vs. JXL - A Little Conversation. Then they were put to bed. After reading a couple of books and brushing their teeth.
Cheers
N8SK8

“Little Donkey” Night

Date & Time: August 14, 2008 6:30pm
Main Course: Grilled chicken with onions and red and yellow bell peppers. It was more or a fajita night then a burrito night. There were both flour and corn tortillas that were warmed on the grill. The chicken was rubbed with chili powder, garlic powder and salt and drizzled with vegetable oil and allowed to rest for 15 minutes before transferring to a very hot cleaned grill (I use a Weber Genesis Silver which I would recommend to anybody looking for a really good grill). The vegetables were rubbed with vegetable oil and put on the grill at the same time as the chicken. The peppers charred slightly on the outside.
Sides: preshredded mozzarella cheese (we were out of cheddar or other cheese, cheese doesn’t last long in out refrigerator.), sour cream, Home cooked black and pinto beans no chorizo sausage sausage today. Yup a bowl full of tomatoes, a bushel of peppers and a couple head of lettuce in the garden and we didn’t eat any of it.
Beverage / Libation: water and maybe pink lemonade.
Desert: Delia and Wyatt both had long popsicles (freezer pops), Noah had a Hershey’s bar and a slice of cinnamon cake, I had a orange standard popsicle on a stick, and I have no idea if Carolyn had anything.
Guests: Not applicable
Miscellaneous burrito information: Wyatt had a rough day. His pillows were stacked funny Wednesday night and woke up with a soar neck on Thursday and spent the majority of the day on the sofa watching TV. He didn’t even go soccer camp which he is getting better at (the first day he told me “my feet are for walking not kicking”…). When he did walk around he had his Gilbert Junior (a new version of his blanket that turned into a ball of string and is currently MIA) wrapped around his shoulder in shawl fashion and looked like a little old lady hobbling about slowly. I am happy to report that following a bath after dinner Wyatt is doing well and his neck muscle loosened up. So with Wyatt crabby all day we didn’t feel like inviting guests over.

Cheers
NATE

Hmmm Fresh Salsa

Date & Time: August 7, 2008 6:30pm

Main Course: Ground beef tacos. Noah’s had a friend over that in theory liked tacos so we made crunchy shelled ground beef tacos with flavoring from a packet. Hmmmm. There were also flour tortillas.

Sides: Chips - Tostados scoops, homemade salsa with tigerella tomatoes and tomatillas from the backyard (the garlic, onion, cilantro and lime came from the grocery store), a second bowl of hot salsa was the same as the first bowl but with a rather hot jalapeno from the garden diced and included, (my lips were burning, the peppers are hot this year), preshredded Mexican taco cheese, sour cream, black and pinto beans with chorizo sausage, shredded lettuce not from the garden (I was lazy and didn’t want to go get some, it’s been bitter anyway).

Beverage / Libation: Corona with Lime (think you Sara, I can’t remember if there’s an ‘h’), Linies Honey Wies.

Desert: Chocolate stick cookies from Aldi’s, I believe.

Guests: Sarah, Jake and Dillon (Wyatt and Noah’s friends and their mom). I will refrain from making fun of the regulars for not coming because they are going somewhere tomorrow...

Cheers

NATE

Happy Birthday Buzz!!!

Date & Time: July 31, 2008 6:30pm (Wyatt’s birthday)

Main Course: Wyatt wanted ground beef tacos. So we had ground beef tacos… I cooked and finely chopped onion with the ground beef. Then I drained the ground beef and added the packet of taco seasoning and added the ¾ of a cup of water and simmered. This is also Noah’s favorite. Noah ate one and Wyatt ate one and a half. I was hungry so the crunchy taco shells didn’t get cooked as long as they should have been meaning they weren’t all that crunchy. The silver lining of the not too crunchy crunchy tacos was nobody had catastrophic crunchy taco shell failure, which generally has a relatively high incidence rate.

Sides: jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, cheddar cheese, home grown lettuce, and taco sauce. I was unable to locate any salsa in the house (the tomatoes should be red by now and turned into homemade salsa) and I forgot the sour cream in the fridge.

Beverage / Libation: Some sort of white wine

Desert: Frozen mediocre key lime pie. We did put the big four candle into Wyatt’s piece of pie and sang to him in the typical Morriss tradition (nobody singing at the same tempo and lots of woots in between lines, rather awful to hear). I have to say it’s always boring when I hear happy birthday sang normally…

Guests: Tom. We might revoke Sue’s invitation. Uncle blue hair is in Ohio or something and returning to Florida early next week for classes (who’s going to help remodel the bathroom).

Miscellaneii: Wyatt had a rather laid back birthday. He visited me at work with Carolyn and Noah and we ate at Boston Blackie’s. Wyatt ate all the bacon off my burger, it was his birthday… The party was over the weekend and we had maybe 30 people over it’s a good thing it didn’t rain… Wyatt choose Mr. Sub so we got a dozen sandwiches for the party. Following the party the whole family headed for the blue line to go to Wicker Park Fest and see Bishop Allen play. The kids enjoyed the train ride.

Happy Birthday Wyatt,

NATE

Date & Time: July 24, 2008 6:30pm

Main Course: Grilled skinless and boneless chicken thighs rubbed with olive oil, season salt, chili powder and fine garlic powder. Additionally there was a yellow bell pepper and a red bell pepper cut in half, seeds removed, rubber with oil, grilled and then cut into slices. There was also an onion cut into inch thick slices, grilled and then cut into half circles. Wyatt’s a big fan of the grilled vegetables. Noah ate a tortilla with cheese and two pieces of chicken, we think he’s being good because he got a Nintendo DS from grandma a month before his birthday…

Sides: Chips, jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, Pace Picante (only about 2 table spoons), cheddar cheese, full fat sour cream, black and pinto beans (no sausage sausage today…).

Beverage / Libation: Chi Chi’s Mojito alchohol included (frozen until slushy)

Desert: 89¢ iced oatmeal cookies (I’m fond of these… even though 2 cookies is 130 calories… or maybe it’s because 2 cookies is 130 calories…), Oreo fudgesters. Wyatt only ate the fudge from the Oreos and left the cookie parts laying around. Noah got a glass of milk for his Oreo’s which Jon and myself promptly dunked our fudgesters in…

Guests: Tom (Sue apparently thinks a Cubs game is more important then Burrito Night) and Uncle Jon (he flew in from Florida today, he drove a car to his house in Florida earlier this week he's only got 4 cars to go...).

Cheers
NATE

Burrito Time

Date & Time: July 1, 2008 6:30pm

Main Course: Smoked pork left overs from the 5th of July. Carolyn found some very tasty very thick corn tortillas. I think they were called fajitas tortillas but I’m not sure the brand. I would say they were twice as thick as the standard tortillas. Noah ate corn chips.

Sides: Chips, jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, Pace Picante, cheddar cheese, black and pinto beans with chorizo sausage mixed in. The chorizo from Thishlers isn’t as good as some of the other sausages, it doesn’t have as much flavor.

Beverage / Libation: A bottle of wine and a large bottle of Burghoffs root beer.

Desert: The kids ate Hershey’s chocolate bars that had melted on the camping trip. Jon also brought brownies and raspberries (from my grandfathers garden). Wyatt ate most of the raspberries.

Guests: Tom and Sue and Uncle Blue Hair

The update is late because Noah has been going to acting camp for the previous two weeks and his big on stage performance was Friday at 11am. So I had to take the day off work. Noah did great even in font of the full auditorium that holds 410 people. He wasn’t as excited about wearing the makeup though...

NATE

!EL SABROSO BURRITO FESTIVIDAD NOCHE!

Date & Time: July 10, 2008 6:30pm

Main Course: Broiled chicken thighs and breasts with onions. Yes, I said broiled and not grilled. It was raining out and I’m old and didn’t want to stand in the rain… Regardless, the chicken came out about the same as it would if I cooked it over the Weber Genesis. The chicken was coated with corn oil and then heavily seasoned with chili powder, garlic powder and cumin and a splash of lemon juice. Served with flour tortillas. Noah ate about three bites of macaroni and cheese left over from lunch, @#$% kids…

Sides: Chips, jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, Pace Picante, cheddar cheese, full fat sour cream, black and pinto beans with chorizo sausage mixed in (my brother complains when people say chorizo sausage because chorizo is Spanish for sausage).

Beverage / Libation: Livingston Chardonnay wine and Sierra Nevada beer.

Desert: Jell-O jigglers, brought over by Jon, which were mostly eaten before the meal, @#$% kids…

Guests: Tom and Sue and Uncle Jon

I tried to find a witty Mexican toast to end the burrito report with but I had no luck. I blame Google…

NATE

Forth of July Weekend

Date & Time: July 3, 2008 6:30pm

Main Course: Grilled chicken thighs with grilled onions and bell pepper.

Sides: Chips (there’s was about a dozen chips…), jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, full fat sour cream, black and pinto beans.

Beverage / Libation: Livingston Chardonnay wine and I had a vodka tonic.

Desert: None….

Guests: Tom and Sue.

Additional Holiday Weekend Activities (I thought I needed to supplement the rather slim burrito report): On the 4^th It was up at 5 to start the dough for the cinnamon rolls and I was supposed tog o and place the blanket by the tree for the parade. The cinnamon rolls take about three hours to make, it’s mostly rising time but they came out of the oven at about 8:30 and were iced. I made about 3 dozen I believe. The cinnamon rolls bake for about 20 to 30 minutes after 15 I relieved I never put the blankets under the tree. Luckily this isn’t Arlington Heights and the only evidence at 8:15 of the 10 o’clock parade were some no parking signs and the bleacher the city erected, 3 days earlier, for the judges. Well at about 9:00 or so Tom and Sue, Tom’s mother and one of his daughters stopped by for coffee and cinnamon rolls before walking to the parade. We did make the 91 year Pauline use the bathroom upstairs since the first floor toilet isn’t hooked to any waste pipe and that would just make a mess in the basement… After the parade we went to the park for the bands and a cook out. Then in the evening we decided to celebrate our countries intendance by blowing up a little bit of it with some fireworks that we bought in Indiana on father’s day. The first item we lit, a plastic eye ball, spun on the ground and ended with a small pop shooting little crackling lights out. This ending made us all jump but through Wyatt, the 3 year old, into a panic which involved him saying, “I don’t like daddy anymore.” So he was promptly put to bed. Then we lit most of the rest of the fireworks from Crazy Kaplan’s…

The 5^th of July we BBQ. The country pork roasts were put on the grill at 6:30 in the morning and cooked all day. At about 8am I covered the two roasts with a pound of bacon which was slowly eaten every time I checked the roast there after, and some was used on my grilled cheese at lunch. At about 5pm or so the roasts came off and were left to cool so I could shred it. The roasts shredded nicely and I had a tasty pork sandwich the involved two slices of Texas Toast, a pile of shredded pork, Southern Comfort bbq sauce (made that morning with most of a bottle of Southern Comfort), and topped with a pile of coleslaw. That’s got to be one of my favorite meals…

Hope you had a safe and fun Independence Day,
NATE

N8 the SK8 w/ the Burrito Upd8

Date & Time: June 26, 2008 6:30pm (late report due to tonsillectomy, adenoidectomy, myringotomy {tubes in the ear})

Main Course: Hmmmm smoked pork. We had the last of the frozen smoked pork from Delia’s first birthday party. It was still just as tasty. There’s two country pork roasts in the fridge to smoke on the 5^th of July.

Sides: Chips, Pace Picante (whatever picante is… from thefreedictionary.com 1. Prepared in such a way as to be spicy. 2. Having a sauce typically containing tomatoes, onions, peppers, and vinegar.), jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, low fat sour cream, kidney beans half smashed with garlic powder (black and pinto beans were cooked up over the weekend for future burrito nights).

Beverage / Libation: Cerveza Pacifico, hmmm, there was a large bottle of Livingston rhine wine.

Desert: I can’t remember….

Guests: Tom and my brother Jon with blue hair which may have frightened Wyatt at first. Jon teaches at a college in Florida so he can do funny hair things during summer break…

After Dinner Activity: The kids went to bed early because I needed to wake Wyatt up at 5am to get him to drink something. We had to be at the hospital at 6:30 to have his tonsils out and they said he couldn’t have anything to drink after 5:30am. Wyatt is doing well as long as the Tylenol is maintained… Of interesting note prior to putting Wyatt being put under they give him something to drink to relax him. They turned on the tv (Sponge Bob) and turned down the lights. Wyatt was on Carolyn’s lap and after a couple of minutes Wyatt asked, “why are there two Sponge Bobs,” and then started to try to grab at thing in front of him. I must say it was fun to see him hallucinate… It was nice to see him calm down after freaking out and ripping the blood pressure cuff off his arm… We’ve had many Slurpees this past weekend.

Happy day,
NATE

Date & Time: June 19, 2008 6:30pm

Main Course: Chicken enchiladas, hmmmm. Carolyn made a nice large tray of chicken enchiladas with her homemade sauce (from a jar, but modified and cooked a little bit). Anyway they were tasty and I eat more then I should of. The shredded tasty chicken thigh meat was mixed with black beans and corn and other stuff and rolled in corn tortilla and covered with sauce and cheese. Noah had chicken nachos with lettuce and salsa.

Sides: Chips, Aldi medium salsa, jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, low fat sour cream, we had no beans we only had kidney beans left in the house (time to cook up another pot of beans).

Beverage / Libation: Cerveza Pacifico, hmmm, There was a large bottle of Livingston chardonnay but I just had another Pacifico…

Desert: To the dismay and complaint of the Noah there was no desert.

Guests: The regulars, Tom and Sue.

After Dinner Activity: Sitting on the front porch an hour past the kids bedtime and watching them catch “light-ling” bugs and put then in the bug jar and look at them with the “fine-a-fine glass” (Magnifying glass).

Good day,
NATE

Hmmm Smoky Pork

Date & Time: June 12, 2008 6:30pm (Max’s Birthday and my half birthday I’m 35 and a half; I didn’t get any gifts)

Main Course: This past Saturday for Delia’s party I awoke at 4:30 am and lit the Weber gas grill and began smoking two 6 pound county pork roast (with the shoulder bone). Each pork roast was rubbed with a different spice rub the night before. Prior to putting the roasts on the grill I put the disposable aluminum pan filled with water to help keep everything steamy and a couple of chunks of wood for the smoking. I reinstalled the grates and promptly punctured the disposable aluminum tray releasing about a gallon of water into the grill. 5am is apparently too early for me to competently complete simple tasks… A second tray was located and the smoking resumed. After seven hours, lots of wood chunks and water tray refills the roasts reached an internal temperature of 175 a little short of the 190 I needed to easily pull the pork. I was hungry and the guests were arriving so the pork was chopped and not pulled. Either way the pork was excellent. And now back to burrito night… We had left over smoky pork tacos with flour or corn tortilla. The pork was still very good even though it had been frozen since Sunday. There’s still about a pound left for a future burrito night. Hmmmm. Noah had a cheese quesadilla, crazy kid…

Sides: Chips, jalapeño and garlic hot sauce, low fat sour cream, black beans w/ chorizo, preshredded Mexican cheese.

Beverage / Libation: large bottom of white wine. It was commented that a cork screw was required; this isn’t our normal screw top wine.…

Desert: The boys each had some sort of ice-cream/popsicle thingy. Wyatt enjoyed cotton candy flavor and Noah had rainbow. Not sure what a rainbow tastes like.

Guests: The regulars, Tom and Sue.

NATE

Happy Birthday Delia

Date & Time: June 5, 2008 6:30pm (Delia’s turned 1 years old today)

Main Course: Carolyn declared earlier this week that she wanted, and was going to make, ground beef enchiladas for burrito night this week. Well the day came and the temperature was in the mid 80s and we don’t have any air-conditioning units in the windows yet. So Carolyn figured I wouldn’t be happy if she used the oven today, she figured correctly, and instead made an enchilada pie. The enchilada pie consists of the same ingredients but layered in the crock pot. You make a little tin foil (I know it’s aluminum and I don’t think I’ve ever even seen foil made of tin…) sling so you can lift it out of the crock pot. It probably should be called enchilada cake since it looks more like a cake. Well you slice wedges and eat it with a little soar cream and hot sauce. It was very tasty.

Sides: Chips, jalapeño hot sauce, sour cream, black beans w/ chorizo, cheddar cheese and lettuce (Noah had nachos instead of the enchilada cake).

Beverage / Libation: Large bottle of Livingston chardonnay at room temperature. The wine was will diluted with ice cubes. I am a purest I think most wine is better with an ice cube…

Desert: Carolyn’s dad dropped off a lemon cake from the Deerfield bakery which said something like happy birthday Delia. Delia enjoyed her piece. Wyatt enjoyed the frosting on his piece. Noah refused to eat any cake and instead had a root beer popsicle, which he didn’t care for either. I didn’t have any. Everybody else, Tom, Sue and Carolyn, seemed to enjoy the cake.

Guests: The regulars, Tom and Sue.

Cheers Big Ears
NATE

Date & Time: 5/29/08 5:30pm (a little early this week because Sue had some where to go…)

Main Course: We had grilled chicken and onion with large floor tortillas (burrito ones not taco one). The chicken was rubbed with lime juice, salt, pepper, chili powered, and cumin prior to grilling.

Sides: Chips, jalapeño hot sauce, sour cream, black beans w/ chorizo, cheddar cheese and Aldi guacamole from a bag.

Beverage / Libation: Large bottle of Livingston chardonnay and a 20 or 24 ounce bottle of Chelada, eeewww. I’m pretty sure shellfish do not belong in canned beer. The Chelada was bud light with Clamato and was canned by Budweiser.

Desert: I made a pie (I took Thursday off to see Wyatt preschool sign along). The pie was as pretty as pie nice homemade crust and woven top. The filling was not typical and I’ve had the recipe for a couple of years. It was a cactus pie made with prickly pear cactus. A new local grocery store had the cactus precut and de-thorned so it was easy to use. We tried to keep it a surprise from Tom and Sue but Wyatt couldn’t help but blurt out it was cactus… Noah took one bite and ran to the garbage to spit it out, he can be a little over dramatic. Needless to say I think there is still some of the pie left after 5 days so I doubt I’ll be reusing that recipe… It tasted kind of like apple pie but had a rhubarb type texture. I think it would be good with something like strawberries.

Guests: Tom and Sue. Sue left right after we forced them to watch the video of Wyatt not signing in his sign along… We also pulled out the tape of Noah at his preschool sign along…

¡Salud!

NATE

Date & Time: 5/22/08 6:00pm (a little early this week due to ordering of pizza)

Main Course: 12 inch Taco pizza from Giron’s w/ a 12 inch cheese pizza for Noah. Wyatt wondered where the pepperoni was… Pizza was ordered this evening because Noah’s grade school had a fund raiser and 20% of the bill was donated to the school on this night only. The taco pizza appeared to be a ground beef and cheese, mozzarella and cheddar, pizza with lettuce and tomatoes put on after cooking. It came with a little side of sour cream. It wasn’t bad but it also did not appear to contain any spice flavoring consistent with tacos.

Sides: Chips with Velveeta and salsa cheese dip.

Beverage / Libation: 4L Jug with handle of Gallo something or other Chardonnay. It was commented that it was only slightly better then Winking owl… Less then half was drank.

Dessert: Noah had ice cream. Carolyn and Wyatt ate some sort of milk chocolate. I tried one chocolate, it was chocolate.

Guests: Only Tom. Sue helps choreograph the South Side Drill Team and they had an event on Thursday night. On a side note Sue used to own a dance school in LaGrange. Tom took home Sue leftovers which he had to return to get because he left them here…

Cheers,
NATE