The Nutcracker

Another great performance by Carolina Ballet. And yes, the Rat King was dispelled once again... a concern often discussed by young attendees.

tree lighting

Leah & Jack having fun at the Christmas Tree lighting... well, maybe Jack is having a little too much fun.

Christmas village under the Tree

In keeping with Holiday tradition, the weekend after Thanksgiving, the tree goes up.

This year was a well designed vision from Momma. One large tree, small Christmas village, and two rail lines supporting two train engines and multiple cars.

The picture above shows Leah & Jack taking a breather after decorating the tree, and planning how to populate Momma's Christmas village. After completion of the Christmas village, Leah & Jack added Star Wars figures, Hello Kitties, and various Lego people.

Nothing warms the heart like seeing a Star Wars Storm Trooper ice skating with a Hello Kitty... in the Christmas village under the Tree.

smoke roasted turkey

Smoke roasted turkey, slow cooking for great flavor!

Brine turkey over night. A basic brine of sea salt and brown sugar, seasons the turkey nicely.

Then rub turkey in olive oil and your favorite spices. Turkey in the smoker for a couple of hours. Hickory is nice, or mesquite.

Now time for the roaster. A couple hours of self basting, and a great moist turkey.

I've used this slow cooking method for many a years now. Great way to have a well seasoned moist bird!

And check out The Virtual Weber Bullet, lots of information on smoker cooking.

wait'n

Autumn is well under way, a fun start to the school year! Jack is digging Pre-K and Leah is settling into 1st grade. Amazing busy, with two kids in school.

Great adventure, and fun to see them grow!

Summer ending

Summer has moved quickly by. Getting ready for Autumn... and of course more bbqing!

I have a new back patio, working on completing it with potted plants and of course a bbq area. More to come on that... and of course, I will continue the couch battle.

Beach Camping

Beach camping with boogie boards and an old Coleman Tent. Tent's been going for 20 years, sheltering me and dogs... and now boogie boarders and a kind Wife who does not care for camping, but is willing to put up with it for the beach.

Spring climb

Exploring and hiking the parks.

Thanks Spring for taking the ice and snow away!

No school No scooting

Snow is amazing fun... if you live in the South.

Will be hanging on to these cool memories, come Summer and heat.

Cheeseburger Pizza Pie

Brown about 1/2 pound of hamburger, season the way you like. Usually a half pound of browned crumbled hamburger matches up well with an average size frozen pizza.

Add a little olive oil to the pizza pan. Place frozen pizza on pizza pan and add some extra cheese to the toppings.

Sharp cheddar is great, so is provolone. What ever your favorite burger cheese, add it.

Finally, add browned hamburger crumbles. Bake and let pizza cool for 10 minutes.

Pour a glass of root beer and enjoy a slice!

Music for Cheeseburger Pizza Pie should include The B52's and Devo.

Winter Jedi

It is important to have as many lightsabers as possible on your person...

when Jedi practicing.

Home Brew Root Beer

Got a Home Brew Root Beer kit for Christmas! So far, it's going tasty well.

A great guide to start from, Professor Fankhauser's Making Root Beer at Home. Straight forward technique to put ingredients together and monitor brew process.

I am using champagne yeast, good flavor and natural carbonation. For my base ingredient, Old Fashion HOMEBREW Birch Root Beer Extract. And adding a little ginger to the mix, and exploring other ingredients.

My Home Brew Root Beer kit, Thanks Karen for a Great Christmas Gift: extracts and ingredients, sugar, champagne yeast, some cheesecloth for straining the root beer out of brew container, and nice fridge containers for root beer chilling.

Home Brew Root Beer, fun and tasty!