New Year's Eve 2012

Dale and I put together a grazing tray for New Year's Eve.  We set out shrimp, herring, apples, grapes, carrots, broccoli, brie with fig jelly, and crackers.  We drank champagne along with it and managed to get quite full.  For dessert we finished up a pumpkin roulade that we had originally brought to Noel's for her annual holiday fete. I mistakenly referred to it as a Buche de Noel.  I included her response with the above photo.

Christmas Day 2012

We had Mom over for dinner on Christmas Day.  We ate beef stroganoff and had a chocolate roulade for dessert. 

Christmas Eve 2012 - Dinner at Mom's

Mom made cheese fondue.

Mom also made steaks and a simple, yet colorful, salad.

We had Baba Dessert for dessert.

Sweet Potato Fries

Dale made sweet potato fries. 

12-12-12

Abby and Xander at the table for Thanksgiving 2012.

Thanksgiving 2012

We're at my brother Pete's house for Thanksgiving. Dale, Mom, and I left this morning very early to fly to Memphis. In Memphis we rented a car to drive to Jacksonville, Arkansas which is just outside Little Rock and is where Pete and his family live. Pete and his wife, Stepanie, made green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, turkey, ham and sausages. What a feast! I sat next to my nephew, Xander. He would only eat turkey and I helped cut it up for him. We had pumpkin pie made with cream cheese made by Stephanie for dessert. Abby, Xander, and Emma were all very well behaved.

Chili with Stew Meat

We had Warren and Gary over for dinner last night. Dale made chili but we tried it with beef stew meat rather than ground turkey.  The night before he dredged the meat in flour and lightly fried it off. He then assembled the chili, let it cook on low for about an hour, and then refrigerated  it overnight. A couple of hours before our guests arrived we put it back on the stovetop over a low heat. The result was spectacular!

We had some Gorgonzola cheese with sliced pears and crackers planned for an appetizer. It was all set out and ready to go just after our guests arrived. Our mistake was leaving it unattended in the living room while we went to grab our drinks in the kitchen. Athena ate half of the substantially sized wedge of cheese. Naughty girl (although you gotta give her a little credit for knowing to go for the good stuff!).

Pumpkin pie and whipped cream for dessert. Yum.

Quiche Part 2

The quiche recipe we use is Mom's. Here it is written in her own handwriting. We've used this recipe for a quite a few years.

Quiche

Dale and I made a quiche last weekend. It didn't turn out as well as I would have liked because I forgot one important ingredient - the swiss cheese. How I forgot that I'm not quite sure as I've never forgotten it before. We bought it when we went to Kowalski's to get all the ingredients but for some reason I forgot to add it while assembling it. Anyway, it was tolerable. Dale seemed to like it a little more than I did. We had pumpkin pie from Kowalski's for dessert. We usually use whipped cream with it but this time we had vanilla ice cream which was a fabulous combo.

Chili

Dale and I had chili for dinner tonight. We made our basic recipe except we used beef instead of turkey and  red wine instead of beer. Delicious. Broccoli was our vegetable.

Pumpkin Pie

We had pumpkin pie for dessert last night. Mrs. Kowalski baked it.

Steaks on the Grill

Dale made steaks on the grill last night and let me just say...

;-)

Beef Stroganoff - The Finished Product

How did the beef stroganoff turn out the other night? It was divine!

Athena Eats Ice

I dropped an ice cube while making a martini tonight. Athena bolted into the kitchen. I figured she'd sniff it and walk away. Instead, she devoured it.

Time for Beef Stroganoff

It's always something of a big deal when Dale and I make beef stroganoff for the first time every fall season. It's such a wonderful fall and winter meal.

More of Last Week's Pot Pie

Last Week's Pot Pie

Last weekend Dale and I made our pot pie. It was delicious. I made a little pie-dough cookie of a jack-o-lantern with some of the extra dough. Mom used to make pie-dough cookies with the extra pie dough when she made a pie although she always put some cinnamon on them before she'd bake them. I loved them. They weren't quite as sweet as regular cookies.

Even MORE Signs of the Season

I love seeing these signs of fall appearing at the supermarket.

Brussels Sprounts

Dale cooked up some brussels sprouts the other night. I came home from class and I could smell them when I walked into the house. They tasted like candy. It's wonderful that it's getting cool enough that we can start using the oven again.

More Signs of the Season

Pumpkins! Another recent photo from Kowalski's. I admire people who can make pumpkin pie from an actual pumpkin. I tend to buy these for decorative purposes.