“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