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April 29, 2005
How to Cook Italian Sausage
There's always the grill. Hot hardwood coals...
But when cooking inside the house, here is the proper way too cook your Italian sausage.
Preheat Oven to 350.
Place sausage in a baking pan.
For each pound of meat add 1/2 cup of water.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes.
To brown the sausage, uncover and cook for 7 minutes.
Flip Sausage and cook 7 minutes more.
Now put the suasage in your favorite sauce. It really helps the flavor of your sauce to let the meat simmer a bit.
Karen picked up the sausage below form Jimmy's Meat Market.
Mild and Hot
Below is a great pic of Karen and Sophia before going to see a Little Mermaid knockoff play.
Two of the Women Who Rule My Life
Posted by Rich at 5:22 PM | Comments (1)
April 25, 2005
Just When You Finish One Project...
So we finally finshed the "TV-half" of the living room. The furniture is back in place and it looks great (and surprisingly bigger- but that happens when you have everything pulled away from the walls fro a couple of months). I wanted to start working on the other half of the living room, but another room seems like a better next step (Our house needs SO DAMN MUCH WORK!).
We are having the eight draftiest windows in the world replaced with new Marvin windows. No longer will we have to shiver through the cold months, or get out a screwdriver to open a window during the few nights when a cool breeze is blowing across North Texas.
So since the room is a wreck now anyway, Karen and I decided it was next...too bad this month is going to be a busy one. It will be tough to get this room wrapped up with any amount of speed, not just because we have lots of other things going on, but because this room also has 3 sets of closet doors, a bathroom door, a door to the room, all of the baseboards, and of course the windows to paint.
And so it goes....time to continue trudging forward, until the day we sell the place...
The Living Room Baseboards are Done!
Time to Relax?
Eight New Windows, No More Draft
Nice Plastic Wrap!
Posted by Rich at 5:01 PM | Comments (2)
April 21, 2005
Spring Show 2005
Last Weekend was the annual Spring Show for the kids' day care. This year the event was at the Lakewood Theater, an old art deco joint that is now host to parties and concerts. I went early to help set up and get the video gear up and running.
Every class had a dance (The infants and toddlers just walk around the stage while music plays.), and then each of the older classes had a gymnastics routine. Sophia had been excited about doing her "Mulan" dance. Unlike last year when she froze up, she was actually one of the best dancers in her class. She enjoyed most everything about that day, except leaving...
Francesca Does More Than Stand There!
Mulan Makes Her Way Across the Stage
I'm Sure There is and Actual Dance Term for This Move.
Gymnastics
I Get a Break From the Video Camera
Posted by Rich at 3:33 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
Ladybugs
As usual certain plants in our beds are attacked by aphids every year. I am a man of chemicals, but the wifely unit is an organic woman. So in a demonstration of futility, we send armies of ladybugs into battle. The damn organic gardening place down the corner is overpriced and always runs out of the ladybugs when we need more. So the cycle is as follows:
1. Aphids attack plants .
2. Overpriced organic garden store is out of ladybugs.
3. Aphids get worse.
4. Ladybugs arrive at store.
5. Application of ladybugs.
6. Problem diminished.
7. Rinse and repeat until winter or plants die, whichever comes first.
Aphid Attack!
Still Contained
Time to Deploy our Courteous Army
They are Escaping!
Posted by Rich at 3:42 PM | Comments (4)
April 13, 2005
Fire Up That Grill!
Our Friends Steve and Natalie came by for some outdoor grilling. It was the first time I've lit it up this spring. We started with some Mohitos. On the grill I cooked some Pressed Cuban Burgers. Once the patties were cooked, the burgers were assembled, wrapped in foil, and put back on the grill under some heavy rocks. After we ate the burgers along with a Cuban style salad and some homemade fries, I grilled pineapple slices with a dark rum glaze and some vanilla bean mascarpone. Lots of wine and some Montecristo Whites topped the evening. All of the recipes came from Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill (See Sidebar).
Mohitos!
Pressed Cuban Burger
Prior to eating, we were graced by two princesses. Sophia and Barret always seem to have such a good time together. Sophia walked up to me and said, "Dance with me, king!" I did, because as she is so fond of saying, "I am the queen of everything!"
It struck me as they ran around the yard holding hands, how much they had both grown up. They are such big girls now, but I still remember the time they slept next to each other in their car seats at the Poteete's house.
Two Princesses Montage 1
Two Princesses Montage 2
Two Princesses Montage 3
Posted by Rich at 3:10 PM | Comments (2)
April 7, 2005
Planting Trees
A couple years ago, a portion of a large hackberry tree crashed into our home. Since then we have stared at what was left of it... an ugly stump. We have wanted to replace that tree, along with an aging mulberry tree in the front. The mulberry drops purple fruit onto the front walk for six weeks each spring, which we then track through the house. Last week we had it cut down, along with another smaller hackberry tree in the backyard and the big, ugly stump.
I built a section of fence where the stump used to reside. Karen and I went to Fannin Tree Farm and picked three fine trees. The Fannin crew planted them earlier this week.
Formerly Huge Hackberry Stump 10 Feet Tall
The Truck Arrives with the New Trees!
Up the Driveway (And Over the Fence)
Planting the Chinese Pistachio
Chinese Pistachio in the Front
Ceder Elm in the Backyard
October Glory Maple in the Backyard
Posted by Rich at 8:21 PM | Comments (2)
April 5, 2005
Backyard Swimming
Pull out the air pump! Let's blow up a swimming pool and watch the kids splash around!
Dump in those toys!
You Have to Dump ALL of the Bath Toys into the Pool!
An action shot like this is hard to time with a digital camera
Sophia Decides to Throw Toys Out While Francesca Gives the Elephant a Drink
Can't I just like a shot? Huh?
I Just Liked This Shot...No Caption
Mischievous
Sophia hasn't yet Decided to Start Watering Francesca
Now I have one less thing to do!
After a Tough Swim, Francesca Relaxes by Mowing the Lawn
Posted by Rich at 8:07 PM | Comments (1)
April 2, 2005
Decemberists - March 31st
So I finally got to see a Decemberists show. This is probably the band I have listened to most in the previous year. The last time they came to town I missed the show because I was too ill to make it out the door of my house. (Although I got dressed and tried...) I went to a good Dallas venue in Deep Ellum-- Trees, with my friends D.D. and Jeremy.
The great thing about the show was its early start. They went on at 10pm, played for 2 solid hours, and then I walked out the door at midnight... not bad for a "school night" concert. They didn't play my favorite song (Grace Cathedral Hill), but they played tons of great music, a good mix of old and new.
This was an Over 17 show, so the underage crowd came out in full force. The crowd itself was around 800-1000 strong. But strong is a misleading word for this group. We started drinking in the balcony area before the show started. Before the band went on, we surveyed the situation below us. Where were we going to watch this thing from? Jeremy turned to me and said, "Lets just go to the front." After questioning him about how crowded it was near the stage, he replied, "These are Decemberists fans. They're pussies. You're probably one of the tougher guys here."
Jeremy was right about one thing, like me, Decemberist fans ARE pussies. We easily moved to the front, only a few feet from the stage. That is where we saw the show AND the ultimate Decemberists fan-boy. He had x's on both hands to indicate his age, and those hands were thrust in the air, to the beat of course, throughout the performance. The gaping smile on his face could barely allow him to belt out each set of lyrics. His over-the-top love of all things Decemberist actually made the violinist/vocalist Petra Haden bust into laughter during one song (as he was stationed directly in front of her). She was forced to avoid looking down at all costs, and yet even seeing fan-boy from her periphery allowed a suppressed grin to creep up her face.
Near the end of the show, as the band was tuning an instrument or two, fan-boy turned to his friends and wiped the sweat from his brow, telling them how hot and exhausted he was...as though he was one of the performers.
Anyway, I had a great time and can't wait for them to come back through town. Below are some pictures taken with the world's worst low-light camera...my phone.
Trees
Colin Sings (and Frodo Lives!)
And a Set List for JD (sorry no Colin EP...he didn't do the in-store, I was told, because of the trailer theft in Eugene)
the infanta
july, july
we both go down together
leslie anne levine
the gymnast high above the ground
the bagman's gambit
the soldiering life
the sporting life
from my own true love (lost at sea)
16 military wives
engine driver
on the bus mall
wuthering heights
los angeles, i'm yours
billy liar
mariner's revenge song
------
red right ankle
the tain
Posted by Rich at 8:57 AM | Comments (4)
April 1, 2005
Spring has Sprung!
I went outside with my new digital camera and its digital macro function to capture the beginnings of spring in Dallas. Soon it will be time to fire up the lawn mower for that inaugural cut. Not long after it will be time to enjoy the cool evenings out on the deck Karen and I started building this time last year to smoke a cigar and sip some red wine...
Our Japanese Maple Leafs-Out
Our New Red Oak Leaves
Red Oak Bud with Droplet
An Azalea Bloom
Another Azalea Bloom
Posted by Rich at 8:21 PM | Comments (3)
