Family Dinner Menu

Three recipes that I found on Pinterest this week.......

Chicken Gloria, which is a new family favorite and will most definitely be prepared again and again. Easy, low cost, big flavor. The little guys asked for seconds!  We were all members of the clean plate club.

Garlic Ginger Green Beans, tastes fabulous, easy to prepare, and everyone had a clean plate from 19 months to 89 years.

Quinoa and fresh bread....to soak up all the good sauce from the chicken

Blueberry Dump Cake which is super easy and super delicious.

Cultural Outing or Dave's Day of Museum Horror

Living in the SF Bay Area, you would think we're hitting all the sights...but you would be terribly wrong. When we have a spare moment, we either climb on the motorcycle (which if you have ever spent any time with Dave, does NOT include many opportunities to stop and meander), play with the grandkids, or sit on our butts and blog

I was really sad that we missed out on the two recent exhibits of Impressionists. What a great opportunity, and we missed it. I'm determined to not let that happen again. I heard that the Dutch Museum, Mauritshuis, was shutting down to expand and sending their collection on tour.....right here! Yeah!  At the de Young! Where are friends are members!!!!!

We learned all about the Dutch Golden Age, etching process, Rembrandt van Rijn (yep, Rembrandt was his first name, who knew? Not these two business majors!) and gazed upon the Dutch Mona Lisa, Girl with a Pearl Earring. We even spent time on the top floor and took in the panoramic view of the City, draped in fog.

Fun time with friends, delicious lunch at Park Chow's, Legion of Honor (where a new exhibit "Impressionists on the Water" is coming in June!!!!), walking through Golden Gate Park (which has instituted the most ridiculous parking that is in no way safer for bicyclists but I'm sure it made plenty of people feel good), taking photos that may or may not be included on a Christmas card (even though the best spot was taken by a Yogi having his photos taken by professionals while wearing orange sports shoes that matched his orange pajamas), introduction to Russian pastry (Moscow & Tbilisi Bakery Store on Geary where we were the only people not speaking Russian), sitting in commute traffic leaving the city to get on the bridge (how on God's earth does anyone do this on a regular basis?) and then safely home.

I can hardly wait to see what we do next!!!!!!

Camera Love

Ezra has decided that he likes to have his picture taken.....a whole lot. He's mugging all the time. Which is actually nice, except he makes funny faces.....

I still think he's adorable....even with food all over his face

GREAT Family Dinner

I think this could be the best menu, ever....

Jack Daniels Pork Tenderloin, not the one on the official Jack Daniels' website, and Lust Cake (or as we say in our church, Four Layer Cake)......

The base is a shortbread, then cream cheese cream, pudding of choice (I went with butterscotch which was a HUGE hit), followed with whipped cream. If I didn't send this home with the kids, I seriously would have eaten the entire thing.

Costco Run

Our cupboards are bare. We have been getting through the end of our busy season depleting our reserves. Our list was getting longer and longer and we made the mad dash today. We got there as it opened and Dave may have snagged the best parking spot, ever. We can tell we're old because we're excited about the parking spot. Funny because we were among all the older couples who were shopping. I told Dave we could come here and feel like the youngun's. He said, yeah, that would work only for a few more years.

We go in with a list and just look for our items. We NEVER wander and see what they have. J asked us to look for a swim vest for T so I suggested we wander in to the middle aisle and see what they have and we found the swim vests and bought two. Now, I should explain the importance of this event. My husband HATES (and I do not think I'm exaggerating when I say that) to shop. He is a hunter. He goes for exactly what he needs, buys it, and leaves as quickly as possible. We get back on task and then as we round that last corner, I say "hey, let's see if there's anything that would be useful for the boys". I'm expecting him to, well, I'll say it kindly, not take this suggestion well.  My husband shocks me and keeps me on my feet by saying, YEAH! We found matching PJs (remember, they LOVE to match) and a pair of shorts for E.

The boys came over this afternoon, we showed them the stuff, and they STRIPPED ON THE SPOT and put on those PJs! They wore them all afternoon and wore them back home. I'm pretty sure they slept in them tonight.

Never mind that T only wanted to put one shoe back on, and that G.Pa put Octonauts on the TV and they didn't want to pose for photos, they are still adorable.

Traditions - Easter

I have been remiss in posting. I've been a little busy wrapping up my terrible, horrible, no good, very bad tax season. Here's a little something until I have the time to post a bit more.....

I make Easter baskets...I've tried to break the habit like a few years ago when we were gone on a ride to SoCal so I wasn't around to deliver a basket. I just can't help myself. Here's a quick photo of the 2013 basket.

There were chocolate bunnies for the boys (or their parents if they're the ones who actually ate them), some gummy bunnies from Trader Joe's, and a complete swim wear set from Land's End. We went all out.....swim trunks, rash shirt (all the rage, SPF etc. and to think we all just wore swimsuits, how did we ever survive?), towels, and goggles. Oh, and I should mention that they match because my boys LOVE to match. Ezra did explain to me that they aren't real twins because they were not born at the same time. Thanks, E. And there is a homemade (of course) card with gift cards inside for the big kids.

We had a fabulous dinner with friends and family. A special shout out to Teresa for the delicious scalloped potatoes, and wine from John, along with the ham from Lucille. The dessert was the only disappointment...should have stuck with my first choice and not been sucked in by the lovely looking (yet dry) cake eggs.

We begin the day with worship because, well, it is Easter. This is the one day where I round up everyone and they attend with me. I would like to say it was for something other than what it really is.....our GREAT egg hunt!!! Seriously. It is FABULOUS. I think the boys believe that's how we worship every week. Oh, and the playground is so wonderful too.

We had a wonderful time celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.

Trudging Through March

This is our toughest month of the entire year. We are so close to the end of our busy season, yet so far away. Really people, bring your tax stuff in early because we are zombies by the end of March. Oh, and there is ALWAYS something big that happens in March. Like the straw that broke the camel's back. Many times it is an event that if it occurs after April, we can handle it in stride. When it happens in March, well, it is drama multiplied by a million. Sometimes it is even something good that happens, like a brand new baby girl arriving. We're just so weary and short on margin in our lives for anything extra.

You should be so proud of us since we are continuing our Family Night Dinner. Our oldest grandchild is enamored with Family Night Dinner. He LOVES it. And I get to try out new recipes, most from Pinterest. Last night was Ginger and Cilantro baked Tilapia

So I may have gotten a tad bit carried away with the garlic (Dave disagrees, he says you can NEVER have too much garlic) and it was still delicious. Very healthy too! This most definitely will be seen again on the dinner table. We served this over brown rice (LOVE Trader Joe's frozen rice) along with fresh steamed asparagus. Oh, and as an added bonus, I may have met a new best friend while purchasing the Tilapia at the fish counter.

Again, dessert was a big hit. I think my little boys have a major sweet tooth. We had Angel Food Cake and I cut it open to add sliced fresh strawberries and Cool Whip (yeah, I know, I got lazy and didn't make real whipped cream...can you forgive me?). I covered it with even more CW and fresh berries.

Both boys were "exuberant" last night. Right after bath they took off running around the house buck naked. I'm pretty sure Mama took video of this event. What is it about freshly cleaned babies running around naked? They were careening with reckless abandon, pure joy. They were loving it. Well not so much when E whacked his head against the marble topped island. He's just at the perfect height, which we discussed several days ago and cautioned him. Really though, does a three year old comprehend "caution"?

We trudge on....loving these sweet moments. Well, not the whacking of the head, but the rest of it was spectacular.