Super Bowl party

Well, what a game?  The game was a mere backdrop to the party that we hosted however.  On Saturday, M and I made a list of the groceries we needed and then decided to do the Clicklist from Kroger so that I would not be tempted to spend an extra $100 in the store while browsing.  I made two boxes of brownies on Sat night to get a head start.  It was then that I started receiving the RSVP's.

On Sunday morning, I woke up and cooked breakfast for the kids.  After that, we all cleaned the house as a family.  This was my favorite part of the day.  We all chipped in and it was nice to see the family working together to get stuff done.

After that, it was time to start cooking.  First up was the burger sliders.  I made approx. 35 sliders, knowing that we would eat some for lunch.  After that, came the smokies in BBQ sauce (as usual, in the football shaped crockpot).  First issue, no bbq sauce.  No problem, I made some from scratch.  Turned out beautifully.  Next up, mini corn dog muffins.  The verdict came back on these that I needed to add a bit more PAM to the muffin tin so that they come out easier.  Following those, I made taco dip with biscuit dippers..

This turned out fantastic.  It was really easy to make also.  The dip was better on tortilla chips, but the biscuit dippers made it look great.

Next it was time to make the Philly cheese steaks.  The Eagles were playing in the big game, so it was only natural that we have cheesesteaks.  I can normally make a pretty good one, but this time it was for a crowd so I chose sliders.  These turned out fair.  The peppers could have been cooked a bit longer as I like mine soft and these still had quite a bit of crunch.  But, by then, guests had started arriving and I needed to mingle.

Perhaps the best part of the game was the fact that Luke was watching upstairs cheering for the Eagles, while everyone else was watching downstairs.  M always cheers for the Pats.  Everytime the Eagles made a play, she would scream out Nooooo!!!!.  And from the upstairs, you could hear Yay!!!!!!  It was neat to see some back and forth from the two of them. Should make for a great season next year.

All in all, we had about 30 people in attendance.  Food was great.  Boult boiled some shrimp and Mrs B made cookies, SanMiguels made lobster dip and jalapeno poppers, Dave made chicken wings with two types of sauces, and Matt brought over some eggrolls that are awesome (I'm having them for lunch today!)

If you missed it, you missed a great time.  Thanks to all who came by!  BTW, it is not an annual thing.  This was just a great party.

Steppin up to the plate

Well, neighbor Amy and PBro usually have a Super Bowl party in their palapa, but they don't feel too much like partying right now due to a death in the family (and we know all too well about that as it was one year ago that Vincent passed).  Neighbor Otto sold the Tree House. And the Millers are still assholes for moving half way across the country.  I say all of this to justify that this year, the Super Bowl party is at Hogg Heaven.

At Christmas, I told Marlina that I was partied out due to the Pig Roast being in November and that I didn't want Christmas Eve to be that big of a deal because it sounded like too much work for me.  Well, I guess that feeling lasted all of a month because a few weeks ago I hadn't heard of any parties on the island.  I started to get the itch.  The chili cookoff last weekend cemented it.  I volunteered our house to host the party, but really it is just an excuse for me to try out new party recipes and cooking techniques.

Needless to say, I will be planning a menu tonight and probably spending a fortune at the HEB tomorrow.  Least it keeps me out of the bars, right?  I'll post pics on Monday.

Someone say chili?

This past weekend was the annual chili cookoff on the island.  Now, this is a non-sanctioned event, and is actually the birthday party for an island resident.  Neighbor Ben was playing his guitar and I haven't gotten the privilege of listening to him since I hosted the 3rd Mr. Pig's Nightmare.  Normally, this event is flooded by islanders who all try to out do each other and put their best chili in.  Last year, Rob Scherer won the thing (not his first time), and I asked him how much he spent on his dish.  $130 was the reply. 

I have been making chili for over 20 years now, and I never use the same formula and never follow a recipe.  This year, I decided I was going to change that.  I used a recipe that I found online from an Aggie and the reviews were undeniably great.  Friday afternoon, I went to the store and gathered everything I needed (and then some more), and my bill only came out to about $40. 

I thought about cooking on Friday night, but that thought changed after three margaritas at the taqueria.  I got up on Sat morning and began the process, following the recipe exactly.  I used a chuck roast, dicing it myself.  I made a chili puree using four different kinds of dried chilies that I had to steep and re-hydrate.  I used multiple dishes and made a horrific mess, but I was having fun.

Now, everything was in the pot and it was time to let the flavors meld and the pot simmer.  But, alas, time was not on my side.  Luke had to be at his basketball game at 1:30, the judging for the chili cookoff was scheduled for 3:00.  I wasn't going to make it, so I had to turn in my chili early and hope for the best.  I ladled the chili/soup into a crock pot, keeping the vast majority for myself.  After the basketball game (Luke's team won and he scored his first points of the season, BTW), I hustled back to hear the results.

I ended up not placing as my chili never came solidified as it should have.  It was more soup than chili.  I know how to fix that.  Remember that I kept most of the chili for me?  Well, I added a bit of corn starch to the pot when I got home, and bingo, remarkable chili!!  I spent the rest of the weekend eating Frito Pie and liked it so much, that I burned through an entire bag of Fritos. 

Anyways, the contest was fun, I met some new islanders, and got a big pot of chili left that I froze and will eat again soon.  Can't believe that the winning entry had chocolate as one of the ingredients.  Guess you never know what wins in a contest on the island.  

I'm Back!!!

Hey, it's been a long time since my last post, but I am back baby!!  I've been busy at work and just haven't made the time to blog, but it is my goal to change that in the new year.  Several times over the past year I have been sitting in my truck thinking about something would make a good blog entry only to forget about it before I could access my computer.  I used to carry my laptop around with my mobile hotspot but it proved to be too big and bulky to carry around everywhere. I now have a new iPad with a keyboard so hopefully these time won't go fruitless as much.

Quickly, something neat happened last week that I wanted to make sure I didn't forget about.  Luke and Marlina were sleeping on the couch and Kate and I were watching tv.  I ended up flipping the station to Expedition Unknown, a show about a archeologist who travels about looking for different objects of desire.  This particular episode was about a story book in the 80's called The Secret.  Evidently this author wrote a bunch of poems and commissioned an artist to paint some images, then hid some treasure boxes all around the country in different parks.  Kate became engrossed watching this show and immediately ask me when will the next show air?  I informed her that I would record the series and that we could watch it together.  Ever since then she has been telling her brother all about it. Last night, we sat down to watch it and Luke, who hadn't seen the previous episode, joined us as well.  He got sucked in also.  Then, after we watched the latest episode regarding Butch Cassidy, he hit the On Demand feature and pulled up an episode regarding Stonehenge.  I grabbed Marlina knowing her infatuation with the English/Scottish area, and asked her to watch with us.  So, there we sat, all four of us, engrossed in a tv show that wasn't animated or on Nickelodeon and was somewhat educational.  Hopefully this is a glimpse into the future.

Look for more posts in 2018!
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The Astros!!

A few weeks ago, I signed Luke up for the Astros Buddies program.  This has been around for ever, and something I never got to do when I was a kid.  Luke received a backpack, socks, a cap, and 4 tickets to a game.  I thought that was a pretty good deal, especially this season as they have the best record in baseball and a legit shot at going to the Series.

Besides all of the items mentioned, his name got entered into a lottery where he could meet some players and get autographs.  Well, he got chosen this past weekend, so up to the stadium we went, arriving at 10:30 for a 1:10 start.  Marlina and Kate dropped us off and we waited in line to get the autographs.  By 10:45 we were next in line.  I looked at Luke and informed him that this was his chance to meet the players and to take advantage of it.  Ask the players a question, don't just hand him a ball to sign silently.  Luke walked up to Astros reliever Will Harris, and politely asked "How do you throw the ball so hard?".  Perfect, I thought. Now this professional probably gets asked that question a bunch and he should impart some wisdom regarding practicing hard, never giving up, listen to your coaches, etc.  Harris's reply?  "Shoot kid, I just throw it as hard as I can every time."  Not exactly the inspirational stuff that I was looking for, but hey, maybe Luke can gleam some wisdom from it anyhow.

 Well, after that, we went to the game and had a good time.  The Astros came from behind to win it, and I got to see the new parts of the stadium that I hadn't previously seen.  The kids got to run the bases afterwards, and it was a blast to see Luke run around as fast as he could and Kate parading around like she was in no hurry at all. 

Go Astros!!!

Hawk

So, last night Unk came over to eat some pizza with the kids.  As we are all gathered around the dining room table, we heard a loud THUNK.  Where is the cat and what the hell has he done now, immediately went through my mind.  It sounded as if it came from downstairs, but the cat never goes downstairs.  I went upstairs to look for him. He was no where to be found.  I went on the main floor, but couldn't find him there either.  I ventured down the stairs to see if he had gone down to the landing and knocked something over.  I was halfway down the stairs, just enough to see the window on the door that leads outside when something grabbed my attention.  Standing outside my door was a very large hawk.  Standing, not walking around, not doing anything.  Just standing there looking confused.

Something similar to the one pictured here, only this guy wasn't balancing on a pole, he was just dazed.  I then saw a little package on the front stoop. It took me a second to add it up, but that hawk had caught some prey, and was struggling with it, not able to fully control where he was flying.  He must have been fighting with the prey and flew right into the glass door.  I have heard of sparrows or pigeons flying into windows before, but I have never heard of a hawk.

Anyways, the dazed hawk shook off the cobwebs and when he saw me gawking at him, he high tailed it out of there, leaving me a little present on the doormat.  I think it was a baby night heron, but in any case, I disposed of it and went back upstairs to finish the pizza.  Only, I wasn't as hungry as before.

I'm on a boat!

Took my first boating lesson on Saturday.  Mr. Batchelor was kind enough to take me out and show me everything he knows about boats, or at least that is what he told me.  I climbed aboard his 18' Mako and we set off.  He explained about wakes, idling, channel markers, etc.  Basically all the things you take for granted when it isn't your boat and you are not driving.

We cruised passed the swimming hole and he let me take the wheel.  Now we are talking!  Back the other way and out into the bay.  Getting the boat up on plane is going to take some practice.  So is looking for underwater obstacles and other boats.  What has kept me from driving boats in the past still freaks me out now, but you can't get over the fear without facing it.

Two hours and $75 worth of fuel later, we headed back in, where he showed me how to tie the boat off "the way the US Navy does". 

Really looking forward to my next time.