My Buddies and Me

Yesterday Catie stopped by work to say hello and she and Nery decided to go to lunch together. I had already finished my lunch so they left Bennett with me. I took him up to my floor and showed him off. He entertained everyone with his smile and even did his little dance several times. It was so fun to be able to spend some time with my little buddy and show him around and have a little male bonding, I think he had a good time too.

Then last night before it got dark I went out to fill my bird feeders, my little Pine Siskin friend was there feeding and wouldn't leave he actually stayed on the feeder while I took it down, took the top off and refilled it. I put some of the seed in my hand and he ate right out of my hand as well, it seems we have developed a real trust.

Life is good

Hanging out with Bennett

I'm sure every parent believes that their kids are the best looking smartest most amazing kids on the planet. I know I do. And I'm sure that every grandparent believes that their grand kids are the cutest smartest most amazing kids, well I have the pictures to prove it. Yesterday Nery and I got to spend about 5 hours with Bennett and he amazed us and entertained us the whole time. Bennett got to try oranges for the first time and he gobbled them two fisted wedge after wedge. He ate 2 whole oranges and had orange juice all over himself. Then he wanted to drink water from a glass, he wasn't having any bottle stuff. Of course he was soaked, so with his clothes soaked and face, hands and arms sticky with orange juice he got to take a bath. The whole time he never fussed or complained he just had fun with his Lola and Lolo. He got to read his books play with his toys and watch the fish in our aquarium. Friday we got to go with Catie and Bennett for his first time swimming and again he went in with no fear and loved every second of it. Even when he splashed water in his face he just laughed and splashed even more. Bennett is such a happy wonderful little boy. I know there is a God and his greatest gifts are our kids and grand kids. Thank you God for this little angel and thank you Catie and Dave for letting us take care of him for a few hours it made our week.

A Very Friendly Pine Siskin

I went out this evening to fill my bird feeders and this little guy stayed behind to eat after the others had left. I noticed that as I approached the feeder he did not fly off so I slowly approached him. I stood right in front of him just a few inches away and he just kept on eating, so I stuck my finger out and gently touched him on the bumb and to my surprise he stepped back onto my finger and stayed for about 7 or 8 seconds then flew off. He circled around and came back to the feeder and continued to eat. I ran inside and grabbed my camera and asked Dave my son in-law to take some pictures. He actually stood on my finger 4 more times before I left him alone to finish eating. Here are a couple of those pictures

After All These Years

For 18 years a group of friends in Woods Cross have gotten together each Valentines to put together a tribute to their wives. Each year attempting to come up with new and more creative ideas to entertain their wives. Over the years they have serenaded their wives with original compositions, written love letters, written love poems, taken them to fancy restaurants, winter sleigh rides and even a dinner cruise on the Great Salt Lake. But I think the most memorable are the dinners all the guys get together under the direction of Mike Johnson master chef to cook dinner for their wives. Nery and I were honored about 6 or 7 years ago to join this group and have enjoyed being a part of such a loving thoughtful group of friends. Over the years a few people have moved away and some like Nery and I have moved in so there has been some change but the main core of friends still remains. The Bowman's, Maurice being the driving force behind this effort, The Johnson's, The Bradley's, The Schwab's, The Van De Graff's, The Harten's, and the two newest couples The Coleman's that's Nery and me and the Seegmiller's. Last night we enjoyed this years installment and it was another success. Under Mike's direction we fixed an Italian dinner with homemade 1000 layer Lasagna, Mikes homemade baguette's, salad, minestrone soup, sorbet, and chocolate cheese cake. we then went downtown to the Off Broadway theater and watched a play, "My School Musical", Bradley's son Justin was on of the actors. We finished the night with a video slide show that I put together of each couple over the years. I have included the introduction of that slide show which is pictures from four of our past Valentines party's. A dinner at Xiao Li Chinese restaurant, a Prime Rib Dinner at Johnson's home, a dinner and sleigh ride at Park City and a Dinner Cruise on the Great Salt Lake.

Day of Cooking

Last Saturday Nery and I had a cook off and cooked food ahead for the coming week. Nery said she had been craving Chili Verde and I had seen Rachel Ray make a version that looked good so I made my own version based on hers. I also made a big bowl of Picco De Gallo and a cilantro and jalapeno salsa to go with it. Nery cooked a wonderful beef stew and a stir fry of chayote and other vegetables with pork this is one of my favorites. I will list the recipe for the Chili Verde and have Nery list her's tonight.

Chili Verde

2 lbs pork cut in small pieces
10 tomatillos
1 box of chicken stalk
3 jalapenos
2 cans of diced green chilies
2 onions
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons of chili powder
1 tablespoon of ground cumin
2 tablespoons corn starch
salt and pepper to taste after everything is cooked

place all of the vegetables in the food processor and puree them.

in a skillet brown the pork in olive oil and add the chili powder and cumin, when the meat is browned sprinkle the corn starch and stir the meat to coat it with the corn starch and let it brown slightly, add the Chicken stalk.

Move the browned meat and stock to a stock pot and add the vegetable mixture.

Simmer on low heat for an hour, adjust the seasonings to your taste and enjoy on burritos, tacos, or tamales it is also great served over scrambled eggs, or mashed potatoes.

Trip to Lytle Ranch, some nice pictures and 2 lifers

Nery and I took a short trip to Lytle ranch this weekend after attending a wedding reception for our daughter in law's sister in St George. There wasn't a huge varity of birds but the ones we did see were quite active. Pictured are Phainopepla and Verdin and a picture of Beaver Dam Wash.

List of birds seen:

Phainopepla, Common Black Hawk (life bird), Common Raven, Eurasian Collared Dove, White-crowned Sparrow, House Finch, American Goldfinch, House Sparrow, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Spotted Towhee, Belted Kingfisher, Ladder-backed Woodpecker (life Bird), Northern Flicker, Verdin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Greater Road Runner. The weather was great and it was a great trip.

The Great Dip Off

The Holidays seem to be the time of year for everyone to break out their favorite dip recepies to share at Christmas and New Years parties. In my family growing up it was and still is my mom's Shrimp Dip. This year was no different, on Christmas morning we went to my parents house and my mom had prepared breakfast foods for everyone, I got snooping in the refrigerator and sure enough there was a big bowl of her famous Shrimp Dip so I pulled it out. It is so good it's good for any time of day so we had it for breakfast and returned through out the day for our fix, after all it's going to be another year before we eat it again.

This year though we had additional dip days added to our Holiday Season. I prepared lunch for my staff at work and one of the dishes was my own rendition of my mom's Shrimp Dip. When I cook a recipe that I get from someone else I always like to make it mine so I am not just ripping off and getting credit for someone else's creation, so I play with it a bit to make it mine. As far as the Shrimp Dip I made it a Seafood Dip by adding Crab Meat to it. It was a hit at the lunch. Nery took several dips the next day for her work unit to eat and they were a hit there as well.

Another opportunity to show off our dip talents was at Dick's Market "Dip Off", that's right Dick's held a dip off for people to bring their favorite dips in and they had a group of judges from their deli judge the dips and gave three prizes one $100.00 prize and two $25.00 prizes. Nery convinced me that we should enter the Dip Off. She wanted me to enter my Blue Cheese Dip/Salad Dressing and the Seafood Dip, she entered a dip which was a thinned down version of our broccoli casserole and a baked onion dip which was her first attempt at this new creation.

We went in confident that either the Blue Cheese or the Seafood would win something. But alas neither won anything nor did the broccoli dip, but Nery's new creation the Baked Onion Dip took second place and she won a $25.00 prize.

The first prize winner was a carmel toffee dip for apples which was good but I lean more to the savory not the sweet. After the awards were passed out all of the contestant were able to sample all the entries. There was one entry that I thought hands down should have won, it was a Sun Dried Tomato with Greek olives and cheese dip that would also make a fantastic pizza topping. I want that recipe but the lady who made it disappeared and I was unable to get it from her. I thought however that they were spot on with Nery's Onion Dip I would have given it 2nd place after the Sun Dried Tomato Dip. Congratulations Nery on a great creation!!

It was a lot of fun but I am now dipped out for another 11 months until we break out the dips again for another Holiday Season

Recipes:

Blue Cheese Dressing

1 jar of Mayo

1 tub of crumbled blue cheese

3/4 cup of buttermilk

1tbl spoon dill

2 tsp bon appetite or celery salt

1 tsp dried mustard

1tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

2 cloves garlic minced then mashed to a paste with a pinch of salt and a drop of olive oil.

place the mayo in a mixing bowl then pour the buttermilk into the mayo jar and shake well to clear the remaining mayo from the jar. Pour this over the mayo in the mixing bowl then add all the other ingredients and mix well. It tastes best if you make it a day ahead and let it marinate in the fridge over night.

serve with fresh vegetables, wings or as a salad dressing

Seafood Dip

2 blocks of Cream Cheese

2 cans of crumble shrimp

1 can of crab meat

1 cup mayo

1 cup of Miracle Whip

1/4 cup ketchup

garlic salt to taste

canned milk to thin to desired consistency

mix well and serve with chips or crackers

Nery's Prize Winning Baked Onion Dip

2 blocks cream cheese

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup caramelized onion

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

dash of fajita seasoning

bake until it bubbles about 30 mins.

serve hot with chips or crackers